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Rio Algar 27.5

#5420 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇪🇸 Spain · Alicante · near Alicante

Wind is the enemy here, peaks in January, gentle enough to learn.

Beginner
Rio Algar, Spain
Photo: Валерий Дед · CC BY 3.0 · source
Surf score27.5 /100
Surfable days45% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.6 m 1.8 ft median
Water21°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Rio Algar

The best time to surf Rio Algar is January. It rarely works. In January the water sits around 15°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 0.5 m. The nearest airport is ALC (57 km) and the nearest town is Alicante (48 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan41%1%0.5 m15°C4/3
Feb45%0%0.6 m15°C4/3
Mar75%0%0.8 m15°C4/3
Apr65%0%0.7 m17°C3/2
May48%0%0.6 m20°C2mm
Jun31%0%0.5 m24°Cvest
Jul32%0%0.5 m28°Cboardies
Aug29%0%0.5 m28°Cboardies
Sep41%0%0.5 m26°Cboardies
Oct35%0%0.5 m23°Cvest
Nov59%0%0.6 m20°C2mm
Dec40%0%0.5 m17°C3/2

What is under Rio Algar

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 16 m.

Depth 8 km out16 m
Depth 4 km out11 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 27.5

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%
8.6
Best days 22.4%
2.9
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
4.9
Season spread 4.1%
0.7
Water comfort 6.1%
3.3
Access 4.1%
3.4

The detail

Faces 125° with 44% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 70% of days. Mean peak period 5.5 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.1 m, with a peak period of 7 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 68%. Months that work: 3 of 12. Coordinates 38.603, -0.041 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

7 homes for sale within 30 km of Rio Algar, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €28,000. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Fotocasa and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€28,000Home · 60 m² · 1 roomConfrides22 km from the spot →€39,000Flat · 91 m² · 1 roomLa Nucia8 km from the spot →€39,000Flat · 91 m² · 1 roomLa Nucia8 km from the spot →€42,500Flat · 92 m² · 3 roomsCallosa d'en Sarrià9 km from the spot →€48,000Home · 100 m² · 2 roomsSella20 km from the spot →€50,000Country house · 20 m² · 2 roomsRelleu24 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,420/ month
typically €1,250 – €1,590
Rent, one bedroom€745
Groceries€300
Eating out€170
Getting around€100
Phone + internet€105
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,770/ month
typically €2,440 – €3,100
Somewhere to stay€1,640
Eating out€585
Car, transfers, fuel€375
Data + extras€180
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Spain (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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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.

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