Staying Home Sucks, home
No. 6, Plaza de los Remedios - Flickr - lucico
Buenavista del Norte, the nearest town, 2 km away. Photo: lucico, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

PLAYA ARENA

Surf spot · Spain

Is it worth the trip?

23Poor out of 100 for your dates

Stay home

Best on Mon 2: 5 ft swell at 10 s

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 50 out of 100

Swell
5 ft10 sslab
Energy
456kJ
Wind
E 5 kn
Temp
26°C

Tue 3 · 29 out of 100

Swell
4 ft9 shollow
Energy
184kJ
Wind
E 4 kn
Temp
25°C

Wed 4 · 10 out of 100

Swell
1 ft10 shollow
Energy
37kJ
Wind
ENE 2 kn
Temp
24°C

Thu 5 · 15 out of 100

Swell
2 ft10 shollow
Energy
89kJ
Wind
E 2 kn
Temp
25°C

Fri 6 · 15 out of 100

Swell
2 ft9 shollow
Energy
61kJ
Wind
SW 1 kn
Temp
26°C

Sat 7 · 9 out of 100

Swell
1 ft8 shollow
Energy
20kJ
Wind
SSW 2 kn
Temp
27°C

Sun 8 · 10 out of 100

Swell
2 ft9 shollow
Energy
51kJ
Wind
S 17 kn
Temp
29°C

Tap a day for waves, wind and the temperature. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 164, good
  2. Mon 250, fair
  3. Tue 329, too small
  4. Wed 410, too small
  5. Thu 515, too small
  6. Fri 615, too small
  7. Sat 79, too small
  8. Sun 810, too small
  9. Mon 924, too small
  10. Tue 1013, too small

The spot in five facts

  • Faces NWtakes swell from the NW
  • Offshore: SEwind from the land
  • Intermediate +who it suits
  • Works 2–8 ftof swell
  • Water 23 °C2 mm shorty

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know rips, currents, rocks or your skill.

Forecast and score for expert surfers at PLAYA ARENA, each day
DayScore for expertsSwellEnergyWindTemp
Sun 1Nov64, good6 ft10 sslab9 ft at break (est.)758kJwind from the south-east, 2 knots, offshore28°C
Mon 2Nov50, fair5 ft10 sslab7 ft at break (est.)456kJwind from the east, 5 knots26°C
Tue 3Nov29, too small4 ft9 shollow5 ft at break (est.)184kJwind from the east, 4 knots25°C
Wed 4Nov10, too small1 ft10 shollow3 ft at break (est.)37kJwind from the east-north-east, 2 knots24°C
Thu 5Nov15, too small2 ft10 shollow4 ft at break (est.)89kJwind from the east, 2 knots25°C
Fri 6Nov15, too small2 ft9 shollow3 ft at break (est.)61kJwind from the south-west, 1 knot26°C
Sat 7Nov9, too small1 ft8 shollow2 ft at break (est.)20kJwind from the south-south-west, 2 knots, offshore27°C
Sun 8Nov10, too small2 ft9 shollow3 ft at break (est.)51kJwind from the south, 17 knots, offshore29°C
Mon 9Nov24, too small3 ft9 shollow5 ft at break (est.)145kJwind from the south, 13 knots, offshore22°C
Tue 10Nov13, too small2 ft7 shollow3 ft at break (est.)59kJwind from the north-east, 5 knots23°C

Energy is the swell's power, in kJ per metre of wave. Wind is in knots, the arrow where it blows to; green is offshore. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovHigh 05:27 +0.7 mLow 12:00 −0.6 mHigh 18:26 +0.5 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 00:17 −0.4 mHigh 06:50 +0.7 mLow 13:30 −0.6 mHigh 19:56 +0.5 m
  • Tue 3 NovLow 01:49 −0.4 mHigh 08:15 +0.7 mLow 14:52 −0.7 mHigh 21:13 +0.6 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Map

the spot and its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates, a surf spot for experts: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

More surf near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About PLAYA ARENA

Facing, offshore wind, exposure, level and swell range are estimated.

The spot faces NW (332°), so it takes swell from the NW. The wind blows offshore from the SE (152°). It is exposed to the open swell. It suits intermediate surfers and up, because of a steep sea floor. It works in 2–8 ft of swell. The sea floor shelves very steeply: 10 m deep about 50 m out (1 in 2). On a typical 5 ft, 11 s swell the waves here would break hard and thick, like a slab. The sea is about 20°C in January, its coldest month (2 mm shorty), and 24°C in September, its warmest (no wetsuit). The town to stay in is Buenavista del Norte, 1.9 km away (about 5 min by car).

Water about 23°C: 2 mm shorty. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,110–US$2,080 each

about US$1,110–US$2,080 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food, board and wetsuit.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to TFS, estimated from distance and season, changing at LIS, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$456–US$945
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$107–US$174
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$208–US$348
Food7 days eating outabout US$234–US$442
Board and wetsuit5 days, or about US$114 to fly your ownabout US$100–US$167
Totalabout US$1,110–US$2,080

For 2 people sharing a room. Lessons, lift-pass deals and insurance are extra. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: 3 towns

Closest

Buenavista del Norte

3 min by car · 9 places to stay

about US$80/nightcountry average

See 9 places to stay in Buenavista del Norte · Booking.com

About Buenavista del Norte its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$80 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 18h 45m

About 18h 45m door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → TFS, changing at Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS), then 1h 10m by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.