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San Francisco 76.3

#1716 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇪🇸 Spain · Pontevedra · near Vigo

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

Works all yearBig waveAdvanced
Surf score76.3 /100
Surfable days95% of the year
Clean days24% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell47% period 11 s+
Typical size2.0 m 6.5 ft median
Water15°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf San Francisco

The best time to surf San Francisco is January, March, November. The season runs Jan to Jan. In November the water sits around 16°C, so pack a 3/2 wetsuit, and the typical wave is 2.8 m. The nearest airport is OPO (89 km) and the nearest town is Vigo (25 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan94%40%2.4 m13°C4/3
Feb96%24%2.9 m13°C4/3
Mar92%51%2.6 m13°C4/3
Apr95%38%2.0 m14°C4/3
May100%11%1.6 m16°C4/3
Jun98%4%1.5 m16°C3/2
Jul100%4%1.4 m17°C3/2
Aug97%4%1.4 m18°C3/2
Sep97%24%1.5 m17°C3/2
Oct97%31%2.0 m15°C4/3
Nov89%54%2.8 m16°C3/2
Dec85%25%2.7 m14°C4/3

What is under San Francisco

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 103 m.

Depth 8 km out103 m
Depth 4 km out77 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%
17.5
Best days 22.4%
18.8
Clean days 18.4%
11.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.0
Access 4.1%
3.4

The detail

Faces 265° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 51% of days. Mean peak period 11.0 s. Days over 3 m: 18%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 3.5 m, with a peak period of 13 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 16%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 42.025, -8.888 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

6 homes for sale within 30 km of San Francisco, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €31,000. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Fotocasa and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€31,000Home · 118 m² · 1 roomTui20 km from the spot →€39,000Home · 157 m²Salceda de Caselas29 km from the spot →€45,000Home · 66 m² · 2 roomsTui20 km from the spot →€45,000Home · 15 m²Vigo 27 km from the spot →€48,000Country house · 70 m²Gondomar11 km from the spot →€53,000Home · 140 m² · 4 roomsTomiño13 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
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

Burrinho🇵🇹 Portugal · score 77.8Childers Cove🇦🇺 Australia · score 80.2Sopelana🇪🇸 Spain · score 77.8Hollywood Beach🇺🇸 United States of America · score 77.7
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