WorldTaiwan › Pingtung › Nan Wan

Nan Wan 54.3

#3679 of 5756 surf spots in the world · Taiwan · Pingtung · near Pingtung

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
Nan Wan, Taiwan
Photo: kudumomo · CC BY 2.0 · source
Surf score54.3 /100
Surfable days98% of the year
Clean days2% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell4% period 11 s+
Typical size1.2 m 3.9 ft median
Water27°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Nan Wan

The best time to surf Nan Wan is April, September, November. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 29°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is KHH (80 km) and the nearest town is Pingtung (85 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%0%1.4 m25°Cvest
Feb100%1%1.3 m25°Cboardies
Mar100%1%1.2 m26°Cboardies
Apr100%4%1.1 m27°Cboardies
May94%1%0.9 m28°Cboardies
Jun97%0%0.9 m29°Cboardies
Jul94%1%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Aug95%1%1.1 m29°Cboardies
Sep93%7%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Oct99%2%1.3 m28°Cboardies
Nov100%3%1.3 m27°Cboardies
Dec100%1%1.6 m26°Cboardies

What is under Nan Wan

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 30 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 49 m against 30 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out30 m
Depth 4 km out30 m
Channel beside it49 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 54.3

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%
14.5
Best days 22.4%
9.2
Clean days 18.4%
0.3
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
2.6

The detail

Faces 165° with 28% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 40% of days. Mean peak period 8.0 s. Days over 3 m: 1%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.9 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 51%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 21.958, 120.760 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,200/ month
typically €1,060 – €1,340
Rent, one bedroom€629
Groceries€251
Eating out€144
Getting around€85
Phone + internet€89
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,340/ month
typically €2,060 – €2,620
Somewhere to stay€1,380
Eating out€493
Car, transfers, fuel€319
Data + extras€149
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 Taiwan (2025, United States = 1.00) (no separate series, so we scale CN) 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

Duranbah🇦🇺 Australia · score 53.5Warrain Beach Reef🇦🇺 Australia · score 51.5
Compare Nan Wan 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 September