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Monobegawakakou 43.1

#4526 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇯🇵 Japan · Kōchi · near Kōchi

Wind is the enemy here, peaks in October, gentle enough to learn.

Beginner friendlyBeginner
Monobegawakakou, Japan
Photo: r18 INO (PACHIMO) · CC BY 3.0 · source
Surf score43.1 /100
Surfable days62% of the year
Clean days5% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell6% period 11 s+
Typical size0.7 m 2.4 ft median
Water23°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Monobegawakakou

The best time to surf Monobegawakakou is April, September, October. It rarely works. In October the water sits around 27°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 0.7 m. The nearest airport is HIW (149 km) and the nearest town is Kōchi (14 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan27%1%0.4 m19°C2mm
Feb47%1%0.6 m18°C3/2
Mar70%0%0.8 m19°C3/2
Apr70%6%0.8 m20°C2mm
May73%1%0.8 m22°C2mm
Jun79%1%0.8 m24°Cvest
Jul80%4%0.9 m28°Cboardies
Aug74%6%0.8 m29°Cboardies
Sep75%15%0.9 m28°Cboardies
Oct70%16%0.7 m27°Cboardies
Nov46%3%0.6 m24°Cvest
Dec36%3%0.5 m21°C2mm

What is under Monobegawakakou

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 62 m.

Depth 8 km out62 m
Depth 4 km out47 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 43.1

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%
11.2
Best days 22.4%
6.9
Clean days 18.4%
1.8
Consistency 10.2%
7.2
Season spread 4.1%
2.6
Water comfort 6.1%
4.5
Access 4.1%
3.0

The detail

Faces 175° with 36% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 83% of days. Mean peak period 8.7 s. Days over 3 m: 1%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.5 m, with a peak period of 11 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 72%. Months that work: 8 of 12. Coordinates 33.534, 133.685 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,540/ month
typically €1,360 – €1,730
Rent, one bedroom€810
Groceries€324
Eating out€184
Getting around€108
Phone + internet€113
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,000/ month
typically €2,640 – €3,360
Somewhere to stay€1,770
Eating out€632
Car, transfers, fuel€410
Data + extras€194
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 8% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Japan (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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