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Punta Mango 84.2

#552 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇸🇻 El Salvador · Usulután · near Usulután

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

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
Punta Mango, El Salvador
Photo: Casa Presidencial El Salvador · CC0 · source
Surf score84.2 /100
Surfable days99% of the year
Clean days78% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell79% period 11 s+
Typical size1.1 m 3.5 ft median
Water29°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Punta Mango

The best time to surf Punta Mango is April, May, June. The season runs all year. In April the water sits around 30°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is SAL (97 km) and the nearest town is Usulután (32 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan99%45%0.8 m28°Cboardies
Feb100%76%0.9 m27°Cboardies
Mar100%80%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Apr100%99%1.0 m30°Cboardies
May100%95%1.2 m31°Cboardies
Jun100%93%1.2 m31°Cboardies
Jul100%92%1.1 m30°Cboardies
Aug100%78%1.1 m30°Cboardies
Sep100%81%1.2 m31°Cboardies
Oct100%77%1.1 m30°Cboardies
Nov100%81%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Dec93%41%0.8 m28°Cboardies

What is under Punta Mango

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 90 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 204 m against 90 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out90 m
Depth 4 km out70 m
Channel beside it204 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 84.2

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%
24.1
Best days 22.4%
6.8
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
3.2

The detail

Faces 175° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 99% of days. Mean peak period 12.8 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.3 m, with a peak period of 15 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 76%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 13.160, -88.209 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,000/ month
typically €880 – €1,120
Rent, one bedroom€525
Groceries€210
Eating out€120
Getting around€70
Phone + internet€75
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,940/ month
typically €1,710 – €2,170
Somewhere to stay€1,140
Eating out€410
Car, transfers, fuel€265
Data + extras€125
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
48% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for El Salvador (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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