WorldPortugal › Madeira › Supertubes

Supertubes 86.2

#347 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇹 Portugal · Madeira · near Funchal

Very consistent, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Supertubes, Portugal
Photo: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Surf score86.2 /100
Surfable days90% of the year
Clean days31% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell43% period 11 s+
Typical size1.1 m 3.5 ft median
Water21°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Supertubes

The best time to surf Supertubes is January, February, April. The season runs Jan to Feb. In February the water sits around 18°C, so pack a 3/2 wetsuit, and the typical wave is 1.4 m. The nearest airport is FNC (57 km) and the nearest town is Funchal (68 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan97%41%1.2 m18°C3/2
Feb100%69%1.4 m18°C3/2
Mar99%33%1.3 m17°C3/2
Apr92%40%1.1 m18°C3/2
May87%16%0.9 m19°C2mm
Jun72%10%0.8 m21°C2mm
Jul81%2%0.9 m23°Cvest
Aug79%3%0.9 m24°Cvest
Sep76%19%0.8 m24°Cvest
Oct94%34%1.0 m23°Cvest
Nov99%35%1.2 m22°Cvest
Dec99%26%1.4 m20°C2mm

What is under Supertubes

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 51 m.

Depth 8 km out51 m
Depth 4 km out29 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 86.2

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%
29.8
Best days 22.4%
10.1
Clean days 18.4%
14.1
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
3.3
Access 4.1%
3.1

The detail

Faces 145° with 39% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 72% of days. Mean peak period 11.0 s. Days over 3 m: 1%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.9 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 60%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 33.054, -16.341 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,150/ month
typically €1,010 – €1,280
Rent, one bedroom€604
Groceries€242
Eating out€136
Getting around€81
Phone + internet€85
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,240/ month
typically €1,970 – €2,500
Somewhere to stay€1,320
Eating out€472
Car, transfers, fuel€306
Data + extras€144
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 Portugal (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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Spots nearby

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