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Villefranche sur mer 41.7

#4649 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇫🇷 France · Alpes-Maritimes · near Nice

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

Beginner friendlyBeginner
Villefranche sur mer, France
Photo: patrick janicek from Courbevoie, France · CC BY 2.0 · source
Surf score41.7 /100
Surfable days53% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.6 m 2.0 ft median
Water20°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Villefranche sur mer

The best time to surf Villefranche sur mer is October. It rarely works. In October the water sits around 21°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 0.7 m. The nearest airport is CEQ (34 km) and the nearest town is Nice (5 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan68%0%0.8 m15°C4/3
Feb70%0%0.8 m14°C4/3
Mar72%0%0.9 m15°C4/3
Apr57%0%0.7 m16°C3/2
May46%0%0.6 m19°C3/2
Jun35%0%0.4 m24°Cvest
Jul19%0%0.4 m26°Cboardies
Aug23%0%0.4 m27°Cboardies
Sep40%0%0.5 m23°Cvest
Oct58%1%0.7 m21°C2mm
Nov73%0%0.9 m18°C3/2
Dec70%0%0.9 m16°C3/2

What is under Villefranche sur mer

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 46 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 80 m against 46 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out46 m
Depth 4 km out33 m
Channel beside it80 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 41.7

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%
14.8
Best days 22.4%
6.2
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
5.9
Season spread 4.1%
2.2
Water comfort 6.1%
2.8
Access 4.1%
4.1

The detail

Faces 155° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 96% of days. Mean peak period 5.0 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.6 m, with a peak period of 7 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 51%. Months that work: 7 of 12. Coordinates 43.700, 7.321 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

16 homes for sale within 30 km of Villefranche sur mer, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €9,900. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Bien'ici and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€9,900Flat · 17 m² · 1 roomVence17 km from the spot →€30,000Flat · 76 m² · 4 roomsNice3 km from the spot →€33,000Flat · 13 m²Nice2 km from the spot →€37,500Flat · 69 m² · 4 roomsNice6 km from the spot →€45,000Flat · 52 m² · 2 roomsLa Trinité4 km from the spot →€55,000Flat · 38 m² · 2 roomsNice5 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,990/ month
typically €1,750 – €2,230
Rent, one bedroom€1,050
Groceries€418
Eating out€240
Getting around€141
Phone + internet€148
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,900/ month
typically €3,430 – €4,370
Somewhere to stay€2,300
Eating out€818
Car, transfers, fuel€529
Data + extras€252
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 23% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for France (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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