WorldVenezuela › Carabobo › Palma Sola

Palma Sola 44.3

#4450 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇻🇪 Venezuela · Carabobo · near Puerto Cabello

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

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
Palma Sola, Venezuela
Photo: Franciny Fernández "CHINI" · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score44.3 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days2% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell2% period 11 s+
Typical size1.2 m 4.0 ft median
Water27°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Palma Sola

The best time to surf Palma Sola is March, September, December. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 28°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is VLN (48 km) and the nearest town is Puerto Cabello (19 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%1%1.3 m27°Cboardies
Feb100%0%1.5 m26°Cboardies
Mar100%4%1.3 m26°Cboardies
Apr100%0%1.3 m26°Cboardies
May100%0%1.4 m27°Cboardies
Jun100%0%1.2 m27°Cboardies
Jul100%0%1.2 m27°Cboardies
Aug100%0%1.1 m28°Cboardies
Sep99%6%1.0 m28°Cboardies
Oct100%1%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Nov99%4%1.1 m28°Cboardies
Dec100%5%1.3 m27°Cboardies

What is under Palma Sola

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 95 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 136 m against 95 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out95 m
Depth 4 km out46 m
Channel beside it136 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 44.3

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%
6.9
Best days 22.4%
6.8
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%
3.9

The detail

Faces 35° with 39% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 98% of days. Mean peak period 6.3 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.6 m, with a peak period of 7 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 46%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 10.509, -68.174 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,070/ month
typically €942 – €1,200
Rent, one bedroom€565
Groceries€225
Eating out€130
Getting around€75
Phone + internet€80
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,090/ month
typically €1,840 – €2,340
Somewhere to stay€1,240
Eating out€440
Car, transfers, fuel€285
Data + extras€135
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Venezuela (own estimate, 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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