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Kepuhi Beach - Molokai 77.9

#1482 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · Hawaii · near Honolulu

Very consistent, no off season, gentle enough to learn.

Works all yearWarm waterBeginner friendlyBeginner
Kepuhi Beach - Molokai, United States of America
Photo: Waydeo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Surf score77.9 /100
Surfable days81% of the year
Clean days28% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell33% period 11 s+
Typical size0.8 m 2.5 ft median
Water26°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Kepuhi Beach - Molokai

The best time to surf Kepuhi Beach - Molokai is January, November, December. The season runs Nov to Jan. In January the water sits around 25°C, so pack a rash vest or 2 mm, and the typical wave is 1.2 m. The nearest airport is HNL (71 km) and the nearest town is Honolulu (64 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan95%48%1.2 m25°Cvest
Feb91%39%1.1 m24°Cvest
Mar90%31%1.0 m24°Cvest
Apr88%31%0.8 m24°Cvest
May77%20%0.7 m25°Cboardies
Jun68%14%0.7 m26°Cboardies
Jul76%11%0.7 m26°Cboardies
Aug59%7%0.6 m27°Cboardies
Sep65%9%0.6 m27°Cboardies
Oct76%27%0.8 m27°Cboardies
Nov85%41%0.9 m26°Cboardies
Dec97%43%1.1 m26°Cboardies

What is under Kepuhi Beach - Molokai

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 44 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 117 m against 44 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out44 m
Depth 4 km out28 m
Channel beside it117 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 77.9

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%
25.2
Best days 22.4%
7.1
Clean days 18.4%
13.0
Consistency 10.2%
9.6
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
5.5
Access 4.1%
3.0

The detail

Faces 280° with 36% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 87% of days. Mean peak period 11.8 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.4 m, with a peak period of 15 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 82%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 21.189, -157.251 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,700/ month
typically €1,500 – €1,900
Rent, one bedroom€892
Groceries€357
Eating out€204
Getting around€119
Phone + internet€128
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,320/ month
typically €2,920 – €3,710
Somewhere to stay€1,960
Eating out€697
Car, transfers, fuel€450
Data + extras€212
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 United States of America (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
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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

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