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Kennington Cove 52.8

#3810 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇦 Canada · Nova Scotia · near Sydney

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

Works all yearIntermediate
Kennington Cove, Canada
Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source · photo taken 1.5 km from the spot
Surf score52.8 /100
Surfable days93% of the year
Clean days2% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell4% period 11 s+
Typical size1.3 m 4.2 ft median
Water8°C a 6/5 with boots, gloves and hood

Best time to surf Kennington Cove

The best time to surf Kennington Cove is January, September, October. It rarely works. In January the water sits around 2°C, so pack a 6/5 with boots, gloves and hood, and the typical wave is 1.7 m. The nearest airport is YQY (32 km) and the nearest town is Sydney (23 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan92%6%1.7 m2°C6/5
Feb93%2%1.6 m-0°C6/5
Mar98%3%1.5 m0°C6/5
Apr94%0%1.6 m1°C6/5
May85%0%1.1 m4°C6/5
Jun91%0%1.0 m8°C6/5
Jul94%0%1.0 m14°C4/3
Aug92%0%0.9 m19°C3/2
Sep97%4%1.2 m18°C3/2
Oct90%6%1.3 m15°C4/3
Nov97%1%1.7 m10°C6/5
Dec92%4%1.7 m5°C6/5

What is under Kennington Cove

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 128 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 231 m against 128 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out128 m
Depth 4 km out98 m
Channel beside it231 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 52.8

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%
13.2
Best days 22.4%
13.8
Clean days 18.4%
0.5
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
3.9

The detail

Faces 180° with 33% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 46% of days. Mean peak period 8.1 s. Days over 3 m: 6%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.7 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 45%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 45.876, -60.061 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,740/ month
typically €1,530 – €1,950
Rent, one bedroom€910
Groceries€365
Eating out€210
Getting around€120
Phone + internet€130
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,390/ month
typically €2,980 – €3,800
Somewhere to stay€2,000
Eating out€710
Car, transfers, fuel€460
Data + extras€215
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

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.

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