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Malpica 80.0

#1183 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇪🇸 Spain · La Coruña · near La Coruña

Very consistent, no off season, real size comes through.

Works all yearBig waveRemoteAdvanced
Malpica, Spain
Photo: Raúl Hidalgo · CC0 · source
Surf score80.0 /100
Surfable days89% of the year
Clean days26% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell41% period 11 s+
Typical size2.0 m 6.7 ft median
Water15°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Malpica

The best time to surf Malpica is February, October, December. The season runs Feb to Feb. In February the water sits around 13°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 3.2 m. The nearest airport is OPO (232 km) and the nearest town is La Coruña (32 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan79%35%2.7 m13°C4/3
Feb77%49%3.2 m13°C4/3
Mar84%32%2.7 m13°C5/4
Apr93%24%2.0 m14°C4/3
May99%28%1.6 m15°C4/3
Jun98%7%1.4 m16°C3/2
Jul93%6%1.3 m16°C3/2
Aug99%6%1.4 m16°C3/2
Sep100%26%1.6 m17°C3/2
Oct95%36%2.2 m15°C4/3
Nov76%15%3.1 m16°C4/3
Dec77%42%3.0 m15°C4/3

What is under Malpica

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 55 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 75 m against 55 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out55 m
Depth 4 km out172 m
Channel beside it75 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 80.0

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%
19.9
Best days 22.4%
20.6
Clean days 18.4%
11.7
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.9
Access 4.1%
2.0

The detail

Faces 40° with 39% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 63% of days. Mean peak period 10.9 s. Days over 3 m: 25%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 4.0 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 15%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 43.323, -8.814 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

17 homes for sale within 30 km of Malpica, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €16,000. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Fotocasa and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€18,000Country house · 17 m² · 1 roomA Laracha 25 km from the spot →€23,600Home · 135 m²Ponteceso14 km from the spot →€23,900Home · 380 m² · 1 roomCoristanco15 km from the spot →€41,500Country house · 100 m²Carballo14 km from the spot →€50,000Home · 105 m² · 2 roomsMalpica de Bergantiños5 km from the spot →€58,000Home · 126 m²Carballo11 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,210/ month
typically €1,060 – €1,350
Rent, one bedroom€633
Groceries€255
Eating out€144
Getting around€85
Phone + internet€89
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,350/ month
typically €2,070 – €2,640
Somewhere to stay€1,390
Eating out€497
Car, transfers, fuel€319
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 Spain (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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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.

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