WorldGermany › Schleswig-Holstein › Timmendorfer Strand

Timmendorfer Strand 9.4

#5752 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇩🇪 Germany · Schleswig-Holstein · near Lübeck

Needs the right swell, wind is the enemy here, thick rubber.

Beginner
Timmendorfer Strand, Germany
Photo: Foto Fitti · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score9.4 /100
Surfable days3% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.2 m 0.6 ft median
Water10°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf Timmendorfer Strand

It rarely works. The nearest airport is HAM (66 km) and the nearest town is Lübeck (16 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan5%0%0.2 m3°C6/5
Feb6%0%0.2 m1°C6/5
Mar5%0%0.2 m3°C6/5
Apr5%0%0.2 m7°C6/5
May1%0%0.2 m13°C5/4
Jun0%0%0.1 m16°C3/2
Jul1%0%0.1 m19°C3/2
Aug1%0%0.1 m19°C3/2
Sep1%0%0.2 m17°C3/2
Oct3%0%0.2 m13°C4/3
Nov5%0%0.2 m9°C6/5
Dec1%0%0.2 m6°C6/5

What is under Timmendorfer Strand

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 10 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 17 m against 10 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out10 m
Depth 4 km out8 m
Channel beside it17 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 9.4

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%
4.4
Best days 22.4%
0.0
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
0.0
Season spread 4.1%
0.0
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
3.8

The detail

Faces 40° with 11% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 77% of days. Mean peak period 3.1 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 0.4 m, with a peak period of 4 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 8%. Months that work: 0 of 12. Coordinates 54.001, 10.782 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,810/ month
typically €1,600 – €2,030
Rent, one bedroom€956
Groceries€383
Eating out€216
Getting around€130
Phone + internet€135
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,540/ month
typically €3,120 – €3,970
Somewhere to stay€2,090
Eating out€745
Car, transfers, fuel€481
Data + extras€227
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 8% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Germany (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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