Best Surf Trips from Kansas City
MCI gives Plains surfers enough route choice to wait for the right coast.
30 spots featured
Kansas City is a pure inland surf-travel market: no nearby ocean, real airport access, and a high penalty for guessing wrong. That makes forecast-led planning more useful than destination loyalty.
Mexico and Costa Rica are the warm-water workhorses. Puerto Rico becomes attractive when Atlantic swell is clean. Hawaii is a bigger-ticket option for longer breaks, while California can make sense when the flight effort is low and the forecast is obvious.
The Kansas City playbook is to keep the map wide until the forecast narrows it. MCI does not need one perfect surf destination; it needs several candidates and a clear trigger for when to book.
USA (HI)(5 spots)
Pipeline
North Shore, Oahu, USA (HI)
Pipeline is the proving ground of professional surfing—a shallow, left-breaking barrel that has defined generations of surfers. The wave breaks just 75 yards from the beach over a...
Sunset Beach
North Shore, Oahu, USA (HI)
Sunset Beach is one of surfing's most revered and challenging waves—a football-field-sized playing field of shifting peaks and deep-water power. West Peak is the classic heavy...
Makaha
West Shore, Oahu, USA (HI)
Makaha is Hawaii's original big wave spot—the place where big wave surfing was pioneered before Waimea Bay. Multiple sections (Point, Bowl, Blowhole, Inside Reef) offer different...
Honolua Bay
NW Coast, Maui, USA (HI)
Honolua Bay is Maui's crown jewel—Hawaii's best point break offering 200-400 meter rides through multiple sections (Coconuts, The Cave, Keiki Bowl). Molokai island shadows pure NW...
Waimea Bay
North Shore, Oahu, USA (HI)
Waimea Bay is the birthplace of big wave surfing—a thundering right-hander that only truly comes alive when swells exceed 15 feet. When it's on, the takeoff is a heart-stopping...
Puerto Rico(5 spots)
Tres Palmas
Rincón, Puerto Rico
Tres Palmas is the Caribbean's big wave proving ground—a powerful right-hand reef break in Rincón, Puerto Rico, that transforms into a legitimate big wave arena when massive...
Rincon
Rincon, Puerto Rico
Rincon is the undisputed capital of Caribbean surfing—a legendary stretch of coast on Puerto Rico's western tip that lights up during winter NW swells. The area hosts multiple...
Gas Chambers
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Gas Chambers lives up to its name—a heavy, hollow reef break that produces some of the most intense tubes in the Caribbean. Located on Puerto Rico's northwest coast near...
Domes
Rincón, Puerto Rico
Domes is Rincón's most photogenic wave—a super-pitchy right that throws over shallow reef right next to the decommissioned nuclear facility dome. When winter swells light up...
Middles
Isabela, Puerto Rico
Middles is Puerto Rico's most challenging wave—a fast, powerful reef break that delivers Hawaiian-style barrels on the north coast. The wave breaks hard and fast over shallow...
USA (CA)(5 spots)
Black's Beach
La Jolla, USA (CA)
Black's Beach is Southern California's power center—a world-class beach break where Scripps Canyon focuses and amplifies swell energy to produce some of the heaviest waves on the...
Malibu
Los Angeles, USA (CA)
Malibu is California's most iconic wave—the birthplace of the modern longboard and ground zero for 1960s surf culture that changed the world. Three sections (First Point, Second...
Swami's
Encinitas, USA (CA)
Swami's is Encinitas' spiritual surf experience—a classic right-hand reef break named after the Self-Realization Fellowship temple perched on the bluffs above. The wave breaks...
Windansea
La Jolla, USA (CA)
Windansea is La Jolla's historic heart—a reef break with an iconic palm-thatched surf shack that has served as the meeting point for San Diego's most committed surfers since the...
Oceanside
San Diego County, USA (CA)
Oceanside is San Diego County's accessible workhorse—a consistent beach break where the pier focuses swell energy and creates reliable peaks for surfers of all abilities. The wide...
Costa Rica(5 spots)
Witch's Rock
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Witch's Rock is Costa Rica's most famous wave—a perfect A-frame beach break inside Santa Rosa National Park that gained worldwide fame in Endless Summer II. Getting here requires...
Pavones
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Pavones is one of the longest left-hand point breaks in the world—a legendary wave in remote southern Costa Rica that can run for 800+ meters when conditions align. Getting here...
Salsa Brava
Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
Salsa Brava translates to "angry sauce," and this Caribbean reef break lives up to its name—the heaviest wave in Costa Rica. When N-NE groundswells hit the east coast during...
Playa Negra
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Playa Negra is Guanacaste's reef break crown jewel—a long, peeling left that offers some of the most consistent quality surf on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. The wave breaks over a...
Santa Teresa
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Santa Teresa is Costa Rica's open secret that's no longer much of a secret—a once-remote beach town that has blossomed into a world-class surf destination with the yoga studios...
Mexico(4 spots)
Puerto Escondido
Zicatela Beach, Oaxaca, Mexico
Puerto Escondido is the "Mexican Pipeline"—a brutally powerful beach break on Oaxaca's Pacific coast that produces some of the heaviest closeout tubes outside of Pipeline itself....
Todos Santos (Killers)
8mi off Ensenada, Mexico
Todos Santos (Killers) is Mexico's answer to Jaws—a powerful right-hand point break on an island 8 miles off Ensenada that's been designated a World Surfing Reserve. An underwater...
La Punta
Puerto Escondido, Mexico
La Punta is Puerto Escondido's friendly alternative—a mellow left-hand point break at the southern end of the beach, offering an escape from the Mexican Pipeline's terrifying...
Sayulita
Nayarit, Mexico
Sayulita is Mexico's surf town sensation—a once-sleepy fishing village that has transformed into the country's most popular beginner surf destination. The right-hand point break...
Barbados(4 spots)
Soup Bowl
Bathsheba, Barbados
Soup Bowl is widely considered the Caribbean's best wave—a powerful right-hand reef break on Barbados' rugged east coast. When NE groundswells hit this exposed section of...
Freights
South Coast, Barbados
Freights is Barbados' most accessible quality reef break—a fun, playful right on the island's mellower south coast that offers a welcome contrast to the east coast's intensity....
Maycocks
North West Coast, Barbados
Maycocks is Barbados's answer to J-Bay—a long, perfectly lined-up right that peels along a coral reef on the northwest coast. When clean N-NW swells arrive in winter, the wave...
Box by Box
Bathsheba, Barbados
Box by Box is Soup Bowl's heavier neighbor—a grinding left that breaks into shallow reef with serious consequences. This is where Barbados prodigy Zander Venezia honed his skills,...
USA(2 spots)
Lower Trestles
San Clemente, USA
Lower Trestles is the world standard for high-performance surfing—a cobblestone point break in San Clemente that produces perfect, rippable waves with mechanical consistency. The...
The Wedge
Newport Beach, USA
The Wedge is one of surfing's most terrifying freaks of nature—a shore break in Newport Beach where swell reflects off a jetty, doubling in size and creating massive, violent...
Related Guides
Best Surf Trips from Chicago
Lake surfers and inland travelers can use ORD to chase real ocean swell without guessing.
Best Surf Trips from Dallas
DFW puts warm-water waves within reach if you let the forecast pick the coast.
Where to Surf in the Next 10 Days
The forecast-led way to choose a surf destination before the flight window closes.
See live forecasts for these spots
Open the Strike Mission dashboard for real-time conditions, 10-day forecasts, and Strike Scores across 1,100+ spots worldwide.