WorldNamibia › Erongo › Pelican point

Pelican point 73.4

#2081 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇳🇦 Namibia · Erongo · near Walvis Bay

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

Works all yearRemoteIntermediate
Pelican point, Namibia
Photo: Laika ac from USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source · photo taken 4.1 km from the spot
Surf score73.4 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days63% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell73% period 11 s+
Typical size1.3 m 4.2 ft median
Water15°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Pelican point

The best time to surf Pelican point is May, August, October. The season runs all year. In August the water sits around 12°C, so pack a 5/4 with boots and hood, and the typical wave is 1.6 m. The nearest airport is WDH (313 km) and the nearest town is Walvis Bay (12 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%56%1.1 m18°C3/2
Feb100%56%1.1 m18°C3/2
Mar100%64%1.2 m17°C3/2
Apr100%57%1.2 m16°C3/2
May100%73%1.3 m15°C4/3
Jun100%54%1.5 m13°C4/3
Jul100%58%1.6 m13°C5/4
Aug100%81%1.6 m12°C5/4
Sep100%65%1.4 m14°C4/3
Oct100%66%1.3 m14°C4/3
Nov100%47%1.2 m15°C4/3
Dec100%59%1.2 m18°C3/2

What is under Pelican point

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is already 296 m deep, deep right up to the door, so swell arrives with its energy intact. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 533 m against 296 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out296 m
Depth 4 km out64 m
Channel beside it533 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 73.4

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%
18.0
Best days 22.4%
10.3
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.0
Access 4.1%
1.6

The detail

Faces 25° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 86% of days. Mean peak period 12.1 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.9 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 41%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -22.871, 14.444 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€842/ month
typically €741 – €942
Rent, one bedroom€442
Groceries€178
Eating out€102
Getting around€60
Phone + internet€64
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,640/ month
typically €1,440 – €1,840
Somewhere to stay€969
Eating out€344
Car, transfers, fuel€225
Data + extras€106
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 Namibia (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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Spots nearby

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