WorldPhilippines › Surigao del Norte › Rock island

Rock island 66.7

#2594 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇭 Philippines · Surigao del Norte · near Surigao

Very consistent, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearWarm waterRemoteIntermediate
Rock island, Philippines
Photo: Mats Sjödin · CC BY 3.0 · source · photo taken 3.2 km from the spot
Surf score66.7 /100
Surfable days88% of the year
Clean days5% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell10% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.4 ft median
Water29°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Rock island

The best time to surf Rock island is April, September, October. It rarely works. In October the water sits around 30°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is CEB (247 km) and the nearest town is Surigao (75 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%1%1.7 m29°Cboardies
Feb100%2%1.5 m28°Cboardies
Mar100%1%1.2 m28°Cboardies
Apr100%7%1.1 m29°Cboardies
May90%3%0.8 m30°Cboardies
Jun52%1%0.6 m30°Cboardies
Jul68%2%0.7 m30°Cboardies
Aug61%5%0.7 m30°Cboardies
Sep82%13%0.8 m30°Cboardies
Oct99%18%1.0 m30°Cboardies
Nov100%7%1.2 m30°Cboardies
Dec99%2%1.5 m29°Cboardies

What is under Rock island

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 104 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres.

Depth 8 km out104 m
Depth 4 km out56 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 66.7

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%
25.0
Best days 22.4%
9.1
Clean days 18.4%
2.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
1.2

The detail

Faces 95° with 72% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 55% of days. Mean peak period 9.4 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.8 m, with a peak period of 11 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 62%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 9.792, 126.171 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€722/ month
typically €636 – €809
Rent, one bedroom€378
Groceries€153
Eating out€85
Getting around€51
Phone + internet€55
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,400/ month
typically €1,230 – €1,570
Somewhere to stay€824
Eating out€293
Car, transfers, fuel€191
Data + extras€89
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
48% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Remote spot, so the local estimate is 15% below the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Philippines (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

Morro das Pedras🇧🇷 Brazil · score 51.6Llangennith🇬🇧 United Kingdom · score 51.6Oshima🇯🇵 Japan · score 51.7Dique de Cabedelo🇧🇷 Brazil · score 40.4
Compare Rock island 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 October