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Oshima 51.7

#3921 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇯🇵 Japan · Fukui · near Fukui

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

Works all yearIntermediate
Oshima, Japan
Photo: くろふね · CC BY 3.0 · source · photo taken 1.6 km from the spot
Surf score51.7 /100
Surfable days79% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size1.2 m 4.0 ft median
Water19°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Oshima

The best time to surf Oshima is June. It rarely works. In June the water sits around 21°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 0.7 m. The nearest airport is NKM (132 km) and the nearest town is Fukui (22 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan89%0%2.2 m14°C4/3
Feb95%0%2.0 m12°C5/4
Mar93%0%1.5 m11°C5/4
Apr87%0%1.2 m14°C4/3
May72%0%0.9 m17°C3/2
Jun57%1%0.7 m21°C2mm
Jul42%0%0.5 m27°Cboardies
Aug70%0%0.8 m29°Cboardies
Sep75%0%0.9 m28°Cboardies
Oct87%0%1.3 m24°Cvest
Nov95%0%1.4 m19°C2mm
Dec89%0%2.3 m17°C3/2

What is under Oshima

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 76 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 625 m against 76 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out76 m
Depth 4 km out63 m
Channel beside it625 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 51.7

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%
11.1
Best days 22.4%
14.7
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
9.4
Season spread 4.1%
3.7
Water comfort 6.1%
2.7
Access 4.1%
3.0

The detail

Faces 300° with 58% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 48% of days. Mean peak period 6.5 s. Days over 3 m: 9%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.9 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 42%. Months that work: 11 of 12. Coordinates 36.252, 136.121 (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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