WorldItaly › Oristrano › San Giovanni di Sinis

San Giovanni di Sinis 28.0

#5405 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇮🇹 Italy · Oristrano · near Cagliari

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

RemoteBeginner
San Giovanni di Sinis, Italy
Photo: Giorgio Galeotti · CC BY 4.0 · source
Surf score28.0 /100
Surfable days47% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.6 m 1.9 ft median
Water20°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf San Giovanni di Sinis

The best time to surf San Giovanni di Sinis is January, February, March. It rarely works. In February the water sits around 14°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 0.8 m. The nearest airport is TUN (372 km) and the nearest town is Cagliari (94 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan73%1%1.0 m15°C4/3
Feb62%2%0.8 m14°C4/3
Mar55%1%0.7 m14°C4/3
Apr43%0%0.5 m16°C3/2
May46%0%0.6 m19°C3/2
Jun26%0%0.4 m24°Cvest
Jul29%0%0.4 m27°Cboardies
Aug30%0%0.4 m27°Cboardies
Sep31%0%0.4 m25°Cvest
Oct46%0%0.5 m22°Cvest
Nov63%0%0.9 m20°C2mm
Dec63%1%0.9 m16°C3/2

What is under San Giovanni di Sinis

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 23 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 42 m against 23 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out23 m
Depth 4 km out17 m
Channel beside it42 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 28.0

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%
6.1
Best days 22.4%
8.0
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
5.2
Season spread 4.1%
1.5
Water comfort 6.1%
3.0
Access 4.1%
0.4

The detail

Faces 171° with 33% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 85% of days. Mean peak period 5.8 s. Days over 3 m: 1%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.8 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 41%. Months that work: 5 of 12. Coordinates 39.888, 8.432 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,280/ month
typically €1,120 – €1,430
Rent, one bedroom€667
Groceries€268
Eating out€153
Getting around€89
Phone + internet€94
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,480/ month
typically €2,180 – €2,780
Somewhere to stay€1,460
Eating out€523
Car, transfers, fuel€336
Data + extras€157
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% 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 Italy (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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