WorldChile › Valparaíso › Papa Hanga Roa

Papa Hanga Roa 95.2

#33 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇱 Chile · Valparaíso · near Puerto Villamil

Works almost every day, clean mornings are the norm, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Papa Hanga Roa, Chile
Photo: LANOEL · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score95.2 /100
Surfable days99% of the year
Clean days56% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell82% period 11 s+
Typical size1.7 m 5.6 ft median
Water23°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Papa Hanga Roa

The best time to surf Papa Hanga Roa is March, October, November. The season runs Jun to Jul. In March the water sits around 26°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.7 m. The nearest airport is IPC (1 km) and the nearest town is Puerto Villamil (3516 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan99%66%1.4 m25°Cvest
Feb100%46%1.6 m26°Cboardies
Mar100%74%1.7 m26°Cboardies
Apr100%64%1.7 m25°Cboardies
May98%35%2.2 m24°Cvest
Jun100%49%1.9 m23°Cvest
Jul100%51%1.7 m21°C2mm
Aug99%27%1.9 m21°C2mm
Sep100%53%1.9 m20°C2mm
Oct100%69%1.6 m21°C2mm
Nov97%73%1.7 m22°Cvest
Dec97%68%1.4 m23°Cvest

What is under Papa Hanga Roa

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 17 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 25 m against 17 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out17 m
Depth 4 km out18 m
Channel beside it25 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 95.2

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%
28.7
Best days 22.4%
14.2
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
4.4
Access 4.1%
2.5

The detail

Faces 290° with 42% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 68% of days. Mean peak period 13.0 s. Days over 3 m: 4%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.5 m, with a peak period of 15 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 21%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -27.148, -109.432 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€952/ month
typically €838 – €1,070
Rent, one bedroom€502
Groceries€200
Eating out€115
Getting around€68
Phone + internet€72
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,860/ month
typically €1,640 – €2,080
Somewhere to stay€1,100
Eating out€391
Car, transfers, fuel€251
Data + extras€119
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 Chile (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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