Best Surf Trips from Phoenix
PHX puts Mexico, California, and Hawaii close enough for forecast-first surf travel.
15 spots featured
Phoenix is inland, but it is better positioned for surf travel than it looks on a map. PHX has strong access to Mexico, quick domestic hops to Southern California, and direct routes toward Hawaii when a bigger mission is worth it.
The fastest options are Baja, Southern California, Cabo, and Puerto Vallarta. Those trips make sense when you have a long weekend and the swell is obvious. For a full week, Hawaii and Costa Rica add higher-upside choices if the forecast shows clean conditions and manageable size.
Phoenix surfers should avoid locking into one habitual destination. The desert-airport advantage is that several coasts are close enough; the winning move is comparing them in the same forecast window.
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USA(5 spots)
Pipeline
North Shore, Oahu, USA
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
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
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...
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...
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Mexico(5 spots)
Zicatela (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....
Killers (Isla Todos Santos)
Isla Todos Santos, Mexico
Killers at Isla Todos Santos is the West Coast's answer to Mavericks and Jaws—a world-class big wave spot where underwater canyons focus and amplify winter swells to terrifying...
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...
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 E-NE Caribbean swells hit during winter, Salsa...
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...
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