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Patonga point 47.5

#4219 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇦🇺 Australia · New South Wales · near Central Coast

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

Works all yearIntermediate
Patonga point, Australia
Photo: FotoSleuth · CC BY 2.0 · source
Surf score47.5 /100
Surfable days93% of the year
Clean days8% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell12% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.4 ft median
Water20°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Patonga point

The best time to surf Patonga point is February, April, August. It rarely works. In April the water sits around 22°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 0.9 m. The nearest airport is SYD (43 km) and the nearest town is Central Coast (16 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%5%1.1 m22°Cvest
Feb99%10%1.3 m23°Cvest
Mar100%7%1.2 m23°Cvest
Apr85%14%0.9 m22°C2mm
May90%10%0.9 m21°C2mm
Jun87%7%1.0 m19°C3/2
Jul83%7%0.9 m18°C3/2
Aug81%12%0.9 m18°C3/2
Sep97%6%1.0 m18°C3/2
Oct97%7%1.1 m20°C2mm
Nov95%1%1.0 m20°C2mm
Dec99%2%1.0 m22°C2mm

What is under Patonga point

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 19 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 40 m against 19 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out19 m
Depth 4 km out20 m
Channel beside it40 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 47.5

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%
8.7
Best days 22.4%
7.7
Clean days 18.4%
3.2
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
3.3
Access 4.1%
4.0

The detail

Faces 241° with 8% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 65% of days. Mean peak period 9.0 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.6 m, with a peak period of 11 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 66%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -33.557, 151.268 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,840/ month
typically €1,620 – €2,060
Rent, one bedroom€970
Groceries€385
Eating out€220
Getting around€130
Phone + internet€140
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,600/ month
typically €3,170 – €4,030
Somewhere to stay€2,120
Eating out€755
Car, transfers, fuel€490
Data + extras€230
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Australia (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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