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Vlieland El Punta 40.8

#4712 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Friesland · near Leeuwarden

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Vlieland El Punta, Netherlands
Photo: Rokus Cornelis · CC BY 3.0 · source
Surf score40.8 /100
Surfable days90% of the year
Clean days1% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell1% period 11 s+
Typical size1.4 m 4.5 ft median
Water12°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf Vlieland El Punta

The best time to surf Vlieland El Punta is March, September, December. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 17°C, so pack a 3/2 wetsuit, and the typical wave is 1.4 m. The nearest airport is AMS (113 km) and the nearest town is Leeuwarden (48 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan94%0%2.1 m4°C6/5
Feb86%0%1.9 m4°C6/5
Mar89%1%1.4 m7°C6/5
Apr91%1%1.2 m10°C5/4
May86%0%1.0 m14°C4/3
Jun83%0%0.9 m17°C3/2
Jul81%0%1.0 m20°C2mm
Aug85%0%1.1 m20°C2mm
Sep92%2%1.4 m17°C3/2
Oct98%1%1.8 m14°C4/3
Nov98%0%1.7 m10°C5/4
Dec97%2%1.7 m7°C6/5

What is under Vlieland El Punta

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 64 m.

Depth 8 km out64 m
Depth 4 km out31 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 40.8

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%
3.8
Best days 22.4%
14.3
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
2.8

The detail

Faces 50° with 86% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 49% of days. Mean peak period 6.4 s. Days over 3 m: 8%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.9 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 40%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 53.310, 5.069 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,750/ month
typically €1,540 – €1,960
Rent, one bedroom€920
Groceries€370
Eating out€210
Getting around€125
Phone + internet€130
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,420/ month
typically €3,010 – €3,830
Somewhere to stay€2,020
Eating out€720
Car, transfers, fuel€465
Data + extras€220
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Netherlands (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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