Best Surf Trips from San Francisco
From cold Ocean Beach sessions to tropical perfection. The best surf trips out of SFO.
20 spots featured
San Francisco surfers earn their warm-water trips. After a winter of dry-suit-thick wetsuits and sharky lineups at Ocean Beach, a flight south or west to actual sunshine feels like a reward. SFO makes it easy.
The closest options are excellent: Cabo and Puerto Vallarta are 4 hours, Costa Rica is 6, Hawaii is 5. Sayulita, La Punta, Pavones — all reachable on a Friday-night red-eye for a Saturday-morning surf. These are the Bay Area surfer's equivalent of a long weekend.
For longer trips, SFO offers direct flights to Tokyo (10 hours), Auckland (13 hours), and Sydney (14 hours) — opening up Japan, New Zealand, and the entire Australian/Indonesian surf belt with one stop. SFO genuinely competes with LAX for surf-trip connectivity.
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Honolua Bay
NW Coast, Maui, USA
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...
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Waimea Bay
North Shore, Oahu, USA
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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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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Mexico(5 spots)
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...
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Barra de la Cruz
Oaxaca Coast, Mexico
Barra de la Cruz is a world-class right point break that put Mexico's Oaxacan coast on the global surfing map when it hosted a Rip Curl Search event. The wave starts with a...
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Scorpion Bay (Third Point)
San Juanico, Mexico
Third Point is a right-hand point break at Scorpion Bay in San Juanico, Baja California Sur. On suitable swells it can connect towards Second Point for a long ride, but the points...
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Punta Conejo
Oaxaca Coast, Mexico
Punta Conejo is one of Mexico's most remote and rewarding waves—a world-class right point hidden along the wild Oaxacan coastline. When south swells hit with the right direction,...
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Las Islitas (Matanchen Bay)
San Blas, Mexico
Las Islitas in Matanchen Bay holds the Guinness World Record for the world's longest rideable wave at 5,700 feet. When conditions align—typically needing a large, long-period...
View Las Islitas (Matanchen Bay) surf forecast
Japan(3 spots)
Tsurigasaki Beach (Shidashita)
Ichinomiya, Japan
Tsurigasaki Beach, locally known as Shidashita, made history as the venue for surfing's Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Located on Chiba's Kujukuri coast, this exposed...
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Onjuku Beach
Onjuku, Japan
Onjuku is Chiba's mellow alternative to the competitive intensity of Tsurigasaki. This family-friendly beach town offers gentle waves that are perfect for beginners and...
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Katsuura
Katsuura, Japan
Katsuura sits at the southern end of Chiba's surf coast, rewarding those who venture farther from Tokyo with beautiful waves and significantly fewer crowds. The beachbreak...
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Australia(1 spot)
Peru(1 spot)
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