Best Surf Trips from Vancouver
Tofino is great. Tropical surf trips out of YVR are even better when you need a thaw.
23 spots featured
Vancouver Island has Tofino — genuinely good surf, in some of the coldest, most beautiful water in North America. But after a winter of 6mm hooded suits and gravel-road drives to the West Coast, a YVR-to-warm-water mission is one of life's great rewards.
The closest options are quickest: Puerto Vallarta is 5 hours, Cabo is 4, Honolulu is 6. Air Canada and WestJet run constant routes to Mexico's Pacific surf coast and onto Hawaii, often direct. Costa Rica is 7 hours via a connection — still a one-day trip.
For longer hauls, YVR has direct flights to Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Sydney — opening up Japan, Indonesia (via Singapore or HKG), and Australia. Vancouver punches well above its weight as a surf-trip departure city, especially if you're willing to fly Asian carriers.
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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)
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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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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Puerto Viejo
Limon, Costa Rica
Puerto Viejo is Costa Rica's Caribbean fever dream - a reggae-tinged beach town where the infamous Salsa Brava reef breaks over shallow coral with shocking power. This is not the...
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Dominical
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Dominical is Costa Rica's wild southern showcase—a powerful beach break backed by primary jungle where humpback whales pass offshore during their annual migration. The wave...
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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
Canada(4 spots)
Cox Bay
Tofino, Canada
Cox Bay is Canada's surf capital—a beautiful beach break surrounded by old-growth rainforest on Vancouver Island's wild west coast. Tofino has become a surfing mecca, drawing...
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Tofino - Long Beach
Vancouver Island, Canada
Tofino is Canada's surf capital—a Pacific Rim National Park beach where temperate rainforest meets consistent North Pacific swells to create one of the world's most atmospheric...
View Tofino - Long Beach surf forecast
Lawrencetown Beach
Nova Scotia, Canada
Lawrencetown Beach is Eastern Canada's premier surf destination—a provincial park beach east of Halifax that catches every hurricane swell and nor'easter that sweeps up the...
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Sandbanks
Prince Edward County, Canada
Sandbanks Provincial Park on Lake Ontario's north shore claims the longest wave periods in the Great Lakes—a bold statement backed by the lake's unique geometry and SW fetch. The...
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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...
View Katsuura surf forecast
Australia(1 spot)
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