WorldAustralia › Tasmania › Mini Bluff

Mini Bluff 77.7

#1513 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇦🇺 Australia · Tasmania · near Smithton

Works almost every day, no off season, real size comes through.

Works all yearBig waveRemoteAdvanced
Mini Bluff, Australia
Photo: Michael Coghlan from Adelaide, Australia · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source · photo taken 1.9 km from the spot
Surf score77.7 /100
Surfable days96% of the year
Clean days48% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell80% period 11 s+
Typical size1.9 m 6.3 ft median
Water15°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Mini Bluff

The best time to surf Mini Bluff is January, April, December. The season runs Sep to Jun. In April the water sits around 16°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 2.0 m. The nearest airport is HBA (279 km) and the nearest town is Smithton (26 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%56%1.6 m16°C4/3
Feb99%42%1.5 m17°C3/2
Mar97%52%1.7 m17°C3/2
Apr94%72%2.0 m16°C4/3
May95%42%2.3 m15°C4/3
Jun97%56%2.1 m15°C4/3
Jul88%29%2.4 m14°C4/3
Aug92%37%2.5 m13°C4/3
Sep97%45%2.4 m13°C5/4
Oct99%45%1.7 m13°C5/4
Nov97%43%1.9 m14°C4/3
Dec97%57%1.6 m14°C4/3

What is under Mini Bluff

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 121 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 532 m against 121 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out121 m
Depth 4 km out61 m
Channel beside it532 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 77.7

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%
14.2
Best days 22.4%
18.1
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.7
Access 4.1%
1.6

The detail

Faces 20° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 60% of days. Mean peak period 12.3 s. Days over 3 m: 16%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 3.4 m, with a peak period of 13 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 12%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -40.863, 145.421 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,560/ month
typically €1,380 – €1,750
Rent, one bedroom€824
Groceries€327
Eating out€187
Getting around€110
Phone + internet€119
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,060/ month
typically €2,690 – €3,430
Somewhere to stay€1,800
Eating out€642
Car, transfers, fuel€416
Data + extras€196
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 Australia (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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Spots nearby

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