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Nahr brahim 41.7

#4645 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇱🇧 Lebanon · Mount Lebanon · near Beirut

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

Beginner
Nahr brahim, Lebanon
Photo: Evilscaught · CC BY 3.0 · source
Surf score41.7 /100
Surfable days41% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.6 m 1.8 ft median
Water23°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Nahr brahim

The best time to surf Nahr brahim is January. It rarely works. In January the water sits around 19°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 1.1 m. The nearest airport is BEY (30 km) and the nearest town is Beirut (24 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan68%1%1.1 m19°C2mm
Feb51%0%0.6 m18°C3/2
Mar63%0%0.7 m18°C3/2
Apr43%0%0.5 m19°C3/2
May33%0%0.5 m21°C2mm
Jun33%0%0.5 m25°Cboardies
Jul44%0%0.6 m28°Cboardies
Aug37%0%0.6 m29°Cboardies
Sep26%0%0.5 m28°Cboardies
Oct16%0%0.4 m26°Cboardies
Nov27%0%0.4 m24°Cvest
Dec53%0%0.7 m22°C2mm

What is under Nahr brahim

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor falls away into open ocean, 749 m, deep right up to the door, so swell arrives with its energy intact. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 1019 m against 749 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out749 m
Depth 4 km out203 m
Channel beside it1019 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 41.7

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%
17.8
Best days 22.4%
4.5
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
4.4
Season spread 4.1%
1.1
Water comfort 6.1%
4.4
Access 4.1%
3.9

The detail

Faces 290° with 42% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 80% of days. Mean peak period 6.0 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.3 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 60%. Months that work: 4 of 12. Coordinates 34.061, 35.642 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,000/ month
typically €884 – €1,120
Rent, one bedroom€529
Groceries€211
Eating out€119
Getting around€70
Phone + internet€76
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,970/ month
typically €1,730 – €2,200
Somewhere to stay€1,160
Eating out€410
Car, transfers, fuel€265
Data + extras€124
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 Lebanon (2024, 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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