St Leu is one of the world's best left-hand barrels—a fast, hollow reef break on Réunion Island that produces some of the most intense tubes in the Indian Ocean. The wave is world-class, but the risk is extreme: Réunion has the highest shark attack rate on Earth, and surfing has been heavily restricted. When conditions align, St Leu delivers jaw-dropping perfection, but the shadow of danger looms over every session. Surfing's ultimate risk-reward equation.
Return flights to RUN, departing today with a 5-day trip window.
Search Flights on SkyscannerGet the best strike windows in Indian Ocean — and worldwide — in your inbox every Monday & Thursday. Live Strike Scores, the swell behind them, zero fluff.
Vous préférez le français ? Recevez le Strike Report en français, gratuitement →
Pro unlocks the 10-day forecast window, unlimited alerts, and custom spot tracking that help turn a good-looking surf report into a better travel decision.
10-day window
See the trip window before flights get expensive.
Unlimited alerts
Let the app watch your score threshold for you.
Custom spots
Track the breaks that actually matter to your travel plans.
Water temp
24°C
Wetsuit
Boardshorts / Rashguard
Difficulty
9/10
Crowd level
7/10
👥 Summer Holidays (Jul 4 – Sep 1) — expect extra crowds
Access: Walk out from the town of St Leu.
St Leu works best on a mid to high tide, ideally between 0.5m and 1.5m on the local tide chart. The tide chart above shows today’s strike window. Below 0.3m it gets dangerously shallow.
Offshore wind at St Leu blows from the SE (135°). Anything in the 90° to 180° range grooms the faces; outside it, expect chop or bumpy conditions.
St Leu wants SW swell (200° to 240°) between 1.2m and 4m, with a period of 18s or more for quality waves.
The main season at St Leu is May-Sep. A secondary window runs Apr, Oct. Winter SW swells are the most reliable.
Fly into RUN, then allow about 40 minutes by road. Walk out from the town of St Leu.
St Leu is a reef break, a left-hander. Difficulty is rated 9/10.
Peak: May-Sep
Secondary: Apr, Oct
Winter SW swells are the most reliable.