WorldJapan › Tokushima › Kaifu Rivermouth

Kaifu Rivermouth 55.7

#3588 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇯🇵 Japan · Tokushima · near Tokushima

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Kaifu Rivermouth, Japan
Photo: Yobito KAYANUMA · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · photo taken 3.1 km from the spot
Surf score55.7 /100
Surfable days92% of the year
Clean days4% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell6% period 11 s+
Typical size1.1 m 3.6 ft median
Water23°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Kaifu Rivermouth

The best time to surf Kaifu Rivermouth is April, September, October. It rarely works. In October the water sits around 27°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.4 m. The nearest airport is KIX (124 km) and the nearest town is Tokushima (55 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan86%1%0.9 m19°C2mm
Feb89%1%1.0 m18°C3/2
Mar97%1%1.2 m19°C3/2
Apr95%4%1.2 m20°C2mm
May94%1%1.1 m22°C2mm
Jun96%1%1.1 m24°Cvest
Jul97%3%1.1 m28°Cboardies
Aug80%4%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Sep91%5%1.3 m28°Cboardies
Oct97%9%1.4 m27°Cboardies
Nov95%4%1.1 m24°Cvest
Dec86%3%0.9 m21°C2mm

What is under Kaifu Rivermouth

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 20 m.

Depth 8 km out20 m
Depth 4 km out13 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 55.7

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%
15.4
Best days 22.4%
10.0
Clean days 18.4%
1.3
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
4.5
Access 4.1%
2.6

The detail

Faces 135° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 64% of days. Mean peak period 7.9 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.0 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 57%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 33.595, 134.364 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,220/ month
typically €1,070 – €1,360
Rent, one bedroom€638
Groceries€255
Eating out€144
Getting around€85
Phone + internet€89
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,360/ month
typically €2,080 – €2,650
Somewhere to stay€1,390
Eating out€497
Car, transfers, fuel€323
Data + extras€153
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 Japan (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.

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