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Pelican Point 49.6

#4102 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇦🇺 Australia · Western Australia · near Carnarvon

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

Works all yearWarm waterRemoteIntermediate
Pelican Point, Australia
Photo: Orderinchaos · CC BY 4.0 · source
Surf score49.6 /100
Surfable days97% of the year
Clean days11% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell29% period 11 s+
Typical size1.1 m 3.7 ft median
Water24°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Pelican Point

The best time to surf Pelican Point is June, July, August. It rarely works. In June the water sits around 25°C, so pack a rash vest or 2 mm, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is PHE (718 km) and the nearest town is Carnarvon (1 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%2%1.3 m25°Cboardies
Feb99%4%1.2 m25°Cboardies
Mar94%6%1.0 m25°Cboardies
Apr96%13%1.1 m25°Cboardies
May90%19%0.9 m26°Cboardies
Jun95%32%1.0 m25°Cvest
Jul97%27%1.0 m23°Cvest
Aug97%27%1.1 m22°Cvest
Sep97%13%1.1 m22°C2mm
Oct100%1%1.3 m22°Cvest
Nov100%3%1.3 m23°Cvest
Dec99%2%1.3 m24°Cvest

What is under Pelican Point

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 55 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 79 m against 55 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out55 m
Depth 4 km out32 m
Channel beside it79 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 49.6

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%
9.5
Best days 22.4%
8.1
Clean days 18.4%
4.6
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
4.8
Access 4.1%
1.6

The detail

Faces 223° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 37% of days. Mean peak period 9.6 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.6 m, with a peak period of 12 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 58%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -24.904, 113.638 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,470/ month
typically €1,300 – €1,650
Rent, one bedroom€776
Groceries€308
Eating out€176
Getting around€104
Phone + internet€112
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,880/ month
typically €2,530 – €3,230
Somewhere to stay€1,700
Eating out€604
Car, transfers, fuel€392
Data + extras€184
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Remote spot, so the local estimate is 20% below the country average. 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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