WorldPortugal › Madeira › Ponta Pequina

Ponta Pequina 89.3

#163 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇹 Portugal · Madeira · near Funchal

Works almost every day, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Ponta Pequina, Portugal
Photo: Stephen Colebourne · CC BY 2.0 · source · photo taken 1.1 km from the spot
Surf score89.3 /100
Surfable days98% of the year
Clean days44% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell52% period 11 s+
Typical size1.5 m 5.1 ft median
Water20°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Ponta Pequina

The best time to surf Ponta Pequina is January, March, November. The season runs Oct to Mar. In November the water sits around 21°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 2.1 m. The nearest airport is FNC (42 km) and the nearest town is Funchal (34 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan98%63%1.9 m18°C3/2
Feb99%47%2.3 m17°C3/2
Mar97%71%2.1 m16°C3/2
Apr99%36%1.8 m17°C3/2
May100%30%1.3 m18°C3/2
Jun99%22%1.1 m20°C2mm
Jul97%11%0.9 m22°C2mm
Aug94%11%0.9 m23°Cvest
Sep99%30%1.2 m23°Cvest
Oct99%58%1.6 m22°Cvest
Nov97%73%2.1 m21°C2mm
Dec99%48%2.2 m19°C2mm

What is under Ponta Pequina

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 60 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 123 m against 60 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out60 m
Depth 4 km out21 m
Channel beside it123 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 89.3

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%
22.8
Best days 22.4%
15.2
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
2.9
Access 4.1%
3.7

The detail

Faces 230° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 84% of days. Mean peak period 11.2 s. Days over 3 m: 7%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.8 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 33%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 32.746, -17.221 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

1 homes for sale within 30 km of Ponta Pequina, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €60,000. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Imovirtual and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€60,000House · 36 m² · 2 roomsRibeira Brava18 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,350/ month
typically €1,190 – €1,510
Rent, one bedroom€710
Groceries€285
Eating out€160
Getting around€95
Phone + internet€100
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,630/ month
typically €2,310 – €2,950
Somewhere to stay€1,550
Eating out€555
Car, transfers, fuel€360
Data + extras€170
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Portugal (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.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
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Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

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