Best Surf Trips from Salt Lake City
Mountain town flexibility meets surf-trip timing when SLC surfers follow the forecast.
15 spots featured
Salt Lake City surfers already understand conditions windows from chasing snow. Surf travel works the same way: the best trips come from waiting until the ocean and wind line up, then moving fast.
SLC connects well through western hubs, so Mexico, Hawaii, Southern California, and Costa Rica are all reasonable targets. Mexico and California fit shorter strikes. Hawaii is higher-upside during North Pacific season. Costa Rica works when warm-water consistency matters more than maximum wave power.
The mistake is treating surf travel like a fixed resort vacation. SLC surfers can use the same strike mindset they use for powder days: watch the forecast, compare destinations, and go when the score is real.
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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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