WorldChile › Tarapacá › Mauro

Mauro 85.8

#388 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇱 Chile · Tarapacá · near Iquique

Works almost every day, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Mauro, Chile
Photo: lo.tangelini from Soliera / Modena, Italia · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Surf score85.8 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days43% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell93% period 11 s+
Typical size1.2 m 3.9 ft median
Water18°C a 3/2 wetsuit

Best time to surf Mauro

The best time to surf Mauro is January, March, April. The season runs Jan to Jun. In April the water sits around 19°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 1.2 m. The nearest airport is IQQ (36 km) and the nearest town is Iquique (3 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%75%1.1 m20°C2mm
Feb100%65%1.1 m20°C2mm
Mar100%81%1.2 m19°C3/2
Apr100%83%1.2 m19°C2mm
May100%71%1.2 m18°C3/2
Jun100%62%1.3 m18°C3/2
Jul100%34%1.3 m18°C3/2
Aug100%24%1.3 m17°C3/2
Sep100%9%1.3 m16°C3/2
Oct100%0%1.2 m17°C3/2
Nov100%0%1.2 m17°C3/2
Dec100%17%1.1 m18°C3/2

What is under Mauro

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 2 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 7 m against 2 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out2 m
Channel beside it7 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 85.8

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%
26.3
Best days 22.4%
8.9
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
2.3
Access 4.1%
4.1

The detail

Faces 260° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 46% of days. Mean peak period 13.6 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): 50%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -20.227, -70.151 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,380/ month
typically €1,210 – €1,540
Rent, one bedroom€726
Groceries€289
Eating out€166
Getting around€98
Phone + internet€105
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,690/ month
typically €2,370 – €3,020
Somewhere to stay€1,590
Eating out€566
Car, transfers, fuel€363
Data + extras€172
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 23% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Chile (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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