WorldPortugal › Coimbra › Praia da Tocha

Praia da Tocha 76.3

#1715 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇹 Portugal · Coimbra · near Aveiro

Works almost every day, no off season, real size comes through.

Works all yearBig waveAdvanced
Praia da Tocha, Portugal
Photo: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Surf score76.3 /100
Surfable days97% of the year
Clean days32% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell49% period 11 s+
Typical size1.9 m 6.1 ft median
Water16°C a 3/2 wetsuit

Best time to surf Praia da Tocha

The best time to surf Praia da Tocha is February, March, November. The season runs Nov to Apr. In March the water sits around 14°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 2.5 m. The nearest airport is OPO (102 km) and the nearest town is Aveiro (38 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan95%54%2.2 m14°C4/3
Feb97%56%2.6 m14°C4/3
Mar92%64%2.5 m14°C4/3
Apr96%45%1.9 m15°C4/3
May100%12%1.6 m17°C3/2
Jun98%7%1.4 m17°C3/2
Jul100%4%1.3 m19°C3/2
Aug98%5%1.3 m19°C2mm
Sep98%28%1.4 m17°C3/2
Oct98%39%1.9 m17°C3/2
Nov96%59%2.6 m17°C3/2
Dec92%43%2.5 m15°C4/3

What is under Praia da Tocha

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 26 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 61 m against 26 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out26 m
Depth 4 km out13 m
Channel beside it61 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 76.3

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%
14.9
Best days 22.4%
17.9
Clean days 18.4%
14.5
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.4
Access 4.1%
3.1

The detail

Faces 285° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 64% of days. Mean peak period 11.1 s. Days over 3 m: 14%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 3.3 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 19%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 40.329, -8.844 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

47 homes for sale within 30 km of Praia da Tocha, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €8,000. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Imovirtual and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€8,000House · 51 m² · 4 roomsCovões e Camarneira24 km from the spot →€25,000Flat · 90 m² · 11 roomsAlhadas16 km from the spot →€32,000House · 80 m² · 3 roomsCantanhede e Pocariça16 km from the spot →€39,500House · 42 m² · 2 roomsTavarede18 km from the spot →€49,000House · 185 m² · 4 roomsAlhadas16 km from the spot →€60,000House · 80 m² · 3 roomsCantanhede e Pocariça16 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
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

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

PLAYA ARENA🇪🇸 Spain · score 75.6Le Truc Vert🇫🇷 France · score 75.9Pillar Point🇺🇸 United States of America · score 78.2Stack's🇲🇽 Mexico · score 78.8
Compare Praia da Tocha with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in March