WorldCanada › Nova Scotia › Ingonish Beach

Ingonish Beach 48.2

#4184 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇦 Canada · Nova Scotia · near Sydney

Very consistent, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
Ingonish Beach, Canada
Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Surf score48.2 /100
Surfable days82% of the year
Clean days3% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell4% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.2 ft median
Water8°C a 6/5 with boots, gloves and hood

Best time to surf Ingonish Beach

The best time to surf Ingonish Beach is January, March, September. It rarely works. In March the water sits around 0°C, so pack a 6/5 with boots, gloves and hood, and the typical wave is 1.1 m. The nearest airport is YQY (59 km) and the nearest town is Sydney (66 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan89%5%1.2 m2°C6/5
Feb89%4%1.1 m-0°C6/5
Mar88%7%1.1 m0°C6/5
Apr86%1%1.2 m1°C6/5
May72%1%0.8 m4°C6/5
Jun87%0%0.8 m8°C6/5
Jul70%0%0.7 m14°C4/3
Aug63%1%0.7 m19°C3/2
Sep89%7%1.0 m18°C3/2
Oct82%5%1.1 m15°C4/3
Nov93%2%1.2 m10°C6/5
Dec83%4%1.3 m5°C6/5

What is under Ingonish Beach

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 50 m.

Depth 8 km out50 m
Depth 4 km out32 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 48.2

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
11.9
Best days 22.4%
11.7
Clean days 18.4%
1.1
Consistency 10.2%
9.9
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
3.1

The detail

Faces 55° with 33% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 71% of days. Mean peak period 8.1 s. Days over 3 m: 4%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.3 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 61%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 46.647, -60.388 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,480/ month
typically €1,300 – €1,660
Rent, one bedroom€774
Groceries€310
Eating out€178
Getting around€102
Phone + internet€110
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,880/ month
typically €2,540 – €3,230
Somewhere to stay€1,700
Eating out€604
Car, transfers, fuel€391
Data + extras€183
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Remote spot, so the local estimate is 15% below the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Canada (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

Praia Brava🇧🇷 Brazil · score 45.3Potima Point🇨🇾 Cyprus · score 43.2
Compare Ingonish Beach with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in March