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Rucos 79.8

#1225 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇲🇽 Mexico · Sinaloa · near Mazatlán

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

Works all yearWarm waterBeginner friendlyBeginner
Rucos, Mexico
Photo: Gzzz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Surf score79.8 /100
Surfable days95% of the year
Clean days65% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell65% period 11 s+
Typical size0.9 m 3.0 ft median
Water28°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Rucos

The best time to surf Rucos is May, June, October. The season runs Feb to Nov. In June the water sits around 30°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is MZT (44 km) and the nearest town is Mazatlán (30 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan75%19%0.7 m25°Cboardies
Feb92%44%0.8 m24°Cvest
Mar97%64%0.9 m25°Cvest
Apr100%77%0.9 m26°Cboardies
May100%88%1.1 m27°Cboardies
Jun100%90%1.0 m30°Cboardies
Jul100%75%1.0 m31°Cboardies
Aug99%71%1.0 m32°Cboardies
Sep100%82%1.1 m31°Cboardies
Oct100%83%0.9 m31°Cboardies
Nov97%59%0.9 m28°Cboardies
Dec83%23%0.7 m25°Cboardies

What is under Rucos

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 74 m.

Depth 8 km out74 m
Depth 4 km out54 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 79.8

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%
20.2
Best days 22.4%
6.3
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%
3.8

The detail

Faces 225° with 42% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 100% of days. Mean peak period 13.6 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.3 m, with a peak period of 16 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 87%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 23.442, -106.582 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,230/ month
typically €1,080 – €1,380
Rent, one bedroom€645
Groceries€260
Eating out€150
Getting around€85
Phone + internet€90
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,400/ month
typically €2,110 – €2,690
Somewhere to stay€1,420
Eating out€505
Car, transfers, fuel€325
Data + extras€155
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Mexico (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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