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USAmi 51.0

#3985 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇯🇵 Japan · Shizuoka · near Shizuoka

Wind is the enemy here, no off season, gentle enough to learn.

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
USAmi, Japan
Photo: Shift · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · photo taken 2.8 km from the spot
Surf score51.0 /100
Surfable days68% of the year
Clean days5% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell6% period 11 s+
Typical size0.7 m 2.4 ft median
Water20°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf USAmi

The best time to surf USAmi is August, September, October. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 25°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 0.8 m. The nearest airport is HND (87 km) and the nearest town is Shizuoka (64 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan48%2%0.6 m15°C4/3
Feb61%1%0.7 m15°C4/3
Mar79%1%0.8 m15°C4/3
Apr75%4%0.8 m16°C3/2
May71%1%0.8 m18°C3/2
Jun70%1%0.7 m22°C2mm
Jul70%4%0.7 m25°Cboardies
Aug65%10%0.7 m26°Cboardies
Sep79%12%0.8 m25°Cboardies
Oct75%9%0.8 m23°Cvest
Nov64%5%0.7 m20°C2mm
Dec60%4%0.7 m18°C3/2

What is under USAmi

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 64 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 89 m against 64 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out64 m
Depth 4 km out34 m
Channel beside it89 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 51.0

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%
19.0
Best days 22.4%
5.7
Clean days 18.4%
1.9
Consistency 10.2%
8.0
Season spread 4.1%
3.7
Water comfort 6.1%
3.0
Access 4.1%
2.8

The detail

Faces 95° with 39% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 89% of days. Mean peak period 8.5 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.3 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 82%. Months that work: 11 of 12. Coordinates 35.007, 139.088 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,220/ month
typically €1,070 – €1,360
Rent, one bedroom€638
Groceries€255
Eating out€144
Getting around€85
Phone + internet€89
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,360/ month
typically €2,080 – €2,650
Somewhere to stay€1,390
Eating out€497
Car, transfers, fuel€323
Data + extras€153
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 Japan (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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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

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