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Oceano 72.8

#2145 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · California · near San Luis Obispo

Works almost every day, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Oceano, United States of America
Photo: Mike Baird from Morro Bay, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source
Surf score72.8 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days31% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell60% period 11 s+
Typical size1.5 m 4.9 ft median
Water14°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Oceano

The best time to surf Oceano is January, November, December. The season runs Oct to Jan. In January the water sits around 15°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 2.0 m. The nearest airport is SBA (105 km) and the nearest town is San Luis Obispo (20 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%57%2.0 m15°C4/3
Feb100%26%1.7 m15°C4/3
Mar100%35%1.6 m14°C4/3
Apr100%8%1.6 m14°C4/3
May100%14%1.7 m13°C5/4
Jun100%15%1.4 m13°C4/3
Jul100%19%1.2 m13°C4/3
Aug100%20%1.1 m15°C4/3
Sep100%31%1.3 m16°C4/3
Oct100%43%1.4 m15°C4/3
Nov99%55%1.4 m15°C4/3
Dec100%49%1.9 m15°C4/3

What is under Oceano

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 57 m.

Depth 8 km out57 m
Depth 4 km out39 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 72.8

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%
17.7
Best days 22.4%
13.0
Clean days 18.4%
14.1
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.6
Access 4.1%
3.3

The detail

Faces 260° with 33% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 52% of days. Mean peak period 11.7 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.3 m, with a peak period of 15 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 26%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 35.101, -120.633 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€2,000/ month
typically €1,760 – €2,240
Rent, one bedroom€1,050
Groceries€420
Eating out€240
Getting around€140
Phone + internet€150
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,900/ month
typically €3,430 – €4,370
Somewhere to stay€2,300
Eating out€820
Car, transfers, fuel€530
Data + extras€250
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for United States of America (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

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