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Luquillo - La Selva 53.5

#3739 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico · Puerto Rico · near San Juan

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

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
Luquillo - La Selva, Puerto Rico
Photo: Eli Quinones · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · photo taken 4.3 km from the spot
Surf score53.5 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days3% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell15% period 11 s+
Typical size1.3 m 4.2 ft median
Water28°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Luquillo - La Selva

The best time to surf Luquillo - La Selva is September, October, November. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 30°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.1 m. The nearest airport is SJU (34 km) and the nearest town is San Juan (47 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%5%1.4 m27°Cboardies
Feb100%1%1.6 m27°Cboardies
Mar100%4%1.4 m27°Cboardies
Apr100%4%1.3 m27°Cboardies
May100%1%1.2 m28°Cboardies
Jun99%0%1.1 m28°Cboardies
Jul100%0%1.2 m28°Cboardies
Aug99%0%1.1 m29°Cboardies
Sep100%17%1.1 m30°Cboardies
Oct100%9%1.1 m30°Cboardies
Nov100%7%1.4 m29°Cboardies
Dec100%3%1.5 m28°Cboardies

What is under Luquillo - La Selva

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 40 m.

Depth 8 km out40 m
Depth 4 km out27 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 53.5

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%
12.5
Best days 22.4%
8.8
Clean days 18.4%
1.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
3.6

The detail

Faces 20° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 20% of days. Mean peak period 8.1 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.8 m, with a peak period of 11 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 44%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 18.369, -65.693 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,640/ month
typically €1,440 – €1,840
Rent, one bedroom€865
Groceries€345
Eating out€195
Getting around€115
Phone + internet€125
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,210/ month
typically €2,820 – €3,600
Somewhere to stay€1,890
Eating out€675
Car, transfers, fuel€435
Data + extras€205
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Puerto Rico (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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