WorldUnited States of America › California › Marshalls

Marshalls 86.3

#338 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · California · near Los Angeles

Works almost every day, no off season, gentle enough to learn.

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
Marshalls, United States of America
Photo: Prayitno / Thank you for (12 millions +) view from Los Angeles, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source
Surf score86.3 /100
Surfable days95% of the year
Clean days40% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell43% period 11 s+
Typical size0.9 m 3.1 ft median
Water18°C a 3/2 wetsuit

Best time to surf Marshalls

The best time to surf Marshalls is April, May, July. The season runs Apr to Oct. In July the water sits around 20°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 0.9 m. The nearest airport is LAX (47 km) and the nearest town is Los Angeles (61 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan88%34%0.9 m16°C3/2
Feb87%18%0.8 m16°C3/2
Mar97%35%1.1 m16°C3/2
Apr100%45%1.1 m16°C3/2
May100%51%1.1 m16°C3/2
Jun100%45%0.9 m18°C3/2
Jul97%54%0.9 m20°C2mm
Aug100%45%0.9 m21°C2mm
Sep99%45%0.9 m20°C2mm
Oct96%41%0.8 m19°C2mm
Nov88%33%0.8 m18°C3/2
Dec90%30%0.9 m17°C3/2

What is under Marshalls

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 19 m.

Depth 8 km out19 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 86.3

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%
28.3
Best days 22.4%
8.5
Clean days 18.4%
18.3
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
2.0
Access 4.1%
3.3

The detail

Faces 190° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 92% of days. Mean peak period 12.2 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.6 m, with a peak period of 15 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 77%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 34.039, -118.895 (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
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

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

El Carmel Point🇺🇸 United States of America · score 77.1Papas🇦🇺 Australia · score 78.0Vanthrax🇫🇷 France · score 78.8Bidart - Plage centrale🇫🇷 France · score 77.4
Compare Marshalls with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in July