About SurfScanners
SurfScanners is a free surf trip planner. You enter your travel dates, departure city, surf level, board and budget, and it ranks 86 handpicked surf destinations worldwide by how well each one suits you — using years of real, daily historical wave, wind and water-temperature data — with an estimated total cost for the trip. It works in English and Spanish, needs no account, and shows no ads.
How the trip planner ranks spots
For your exact travel dates, SurfScanners looks at what the waves and wind were actually like at every spot on those same calendar days in past years. Each spot then gets a match score: whether the waves at that time of year suit your level (40%), distance from your departure city (25%), estimated cost (20%) and whether the spot suits your board (15%). A cheap, nearby spot with the wrong waves for you won't top the list.
Spots also have a hard skill gate set by hand from their character — reef, rocks, power, crowds, currents — because modelled swell height alone can't tell a heavy reef from a mellow beach break. Advanced-only waves like Pipeline are never recommended to beginners, whatever the numbers say.
The cost estimate adds up flights (from the distance to your departure city, or driving and train for trips under about 400 km), accommodation at typical nightly prices for that country, and an oversized-baggage fee if you bring your own board, with a camper van alternative where one is realistic. These are estimates: each result links to Skyscanner and Rome2Rio for live prices.
Where the data comes from
Every spot has daily historical wave height, wind speed and direction, swell direction and water temperature from Open-Meteo — at least three years per spot (2023–2025 for most, back to 2018 for some). SurfScanners averages them by calendar day and month to show what conditions are usually like at that time of year.
That is climatology, not a forecast: it's what matters when you're booking weeks or months ahead. Each spot page links to a live forecast for when your trip gets close.
What else is on the site
A guide to each of the 86 spots — the best months for each level, water temperature and wetsuit by month, wind and swell — and country guides for the 15 countries with several spots. Predictions compares historical conditions between spots for any dates. There is also a surf news feed in English and Spanish, a community where surfers share trips and follow each other, and free listings for local surf schools, shops, camps and places to stay on their spot's page.
Who's behind it
SurfScanners is built and run by Luke Smith. Questions, corrections, a spot you'd like added, or a surf business that should be listed: write to [email protected], or follow along on Instagram at @surfscanners.