WorldGermany › Niedersachsen › Norderney

Norderney 32.9

#5186 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇩🇪 Germany · Niedersachsen · near Emden

Very consistent, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
Norderney, Germany
Photo: Foto Fitti · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score32.9 /100
Surfable days79% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.9 m 3.1 ft median
Water11°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf Norderney

The best time to surf Norderney is September. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 18°C, so pack a 3/2 wetsuit, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is BRE (131 km) and the nearest town is Emden (39 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan94%0%1.5 m4°C6/5
Feb84%0%1.2 m2°C6/5
Mar78%0%0.9 m4°C6/5
Apr76%0%0.8 m9°C6/5
May74%0%0.8 m12°C5/4
Jun61%0%0.7 m16°C3/2
Jul72%0%0.8 m19°C3/2
Aug69%0%0.8 m19°C2mm
Sep81%1%1.0 m18°C3/2
Oct92%0%1.2 m14°C4/3
Nov81%0%1.0 m10°C5/4
Dec92%0%1.0 m7°C6/5

What is under Norderney

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 13 m.

Depth 8 km out13 m
Depth 4 km out10 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 32.9

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%
3.0
Best days 22.4%
9.2
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
9.5
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
2.8

The detail

Faces 270° with 64% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 34% of days. Mean peak period 5.5 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.0 m, with a peak period of 7 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 58%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 53.715, 7.158 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,680/ month
typically €1,480 – €1,880
Rent, one bedroom€885
Groceries€355
Eating out€200
Getting around€120
Phone + internet€125
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,280/ month
typically €2,890 – €3,670
Somewhere to stay€1,940
Eating out€690
Car, transfers, fuel€445
Data + extras€210
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Germany (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.

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

Robert Moses🇺🇸 United States of America · score 40.9Brighton (West Pier)🇬🇧 United Kingdom · score 39.6Corpus Christi🇺🇸 United States of America · score 39.3Turri🇮🇹 Italy · score 36.3
Compare Norderney 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