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West Strand 25.2

#5520 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Coleraine · near Londonderry/Derry

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

Beginner
Surf score25.2 /100
Surfable days40% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.5 m 1.6 ft median
Water11°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf West Strand

It rarely works. The nearest airport is BFS (66 km) and the nearest town is Londonderry/Derry (48 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan54%0%0.6 m9°C6/5
Feb78%0%0.8 m8°C6/5
Mar48%0%0.6 m8°C6/5
Apr38%0%0.5 m9°C6/5
May22%0%0.4 m11°C5/4
Jun22%0%0.3 m12°C5/4
Jul6%0%0.2 m14°C4/3
Aug14%0%0.3 m15°C4/3
Sep26%0%0.5 m15°C4/3
Oct55%0%0.6 m14°C4/3
Nov63%0%0.8 m12°C5/4
Dec53%0%0.6 m10°C5/4

What is under West Strand

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is already 387 m deep, deep right up to the door, so swell arrives with its energy intact. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 854 m against 387 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out387 m
Depth 4 km out136 m
Channel beside it854 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 25.2

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%
10.1
Best days 22.4%
2.8
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
4.2
Season spread 4.1%
1.5
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
3.3

The detail

Faces 345° with 44% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 55% of days. Mean peak period 4.2 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.1 m, with a peak period of 6 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 52%. Months that work: 5 of 12. Coordinates 55.201, -6.657 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,830/ month
typically €1,610 – €2,050
Rent, one bedroom€960
Groceries€385
Eating out€220
Getting around€130
Phone + internet€135
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,570/ month
typically €3,140 – €4,000
Somewhere to stay€2,100
Eating out€750
Car, transfers, fuel€485
Data + extras€230
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for United Kingdom (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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