Gear
How to fly with a longboard: the airlines that take a 9'6"
No longboard bag clears an airline's linear size cap, so a log flies only where the limit is length alone. In the US that means Alaska and Hawaiian on mainline jets, plus JetBlue.
Surf trip guides.
Where to surf and the month it works. What the flight and the board cost. Built from the forecast and the fares we watch at 114 breaks.
Plan the trip
Where to go, the month it works, and what the flight costs.
Data
The best time to surf each spot, month by month
Guidebooks give a surf spot a season. We scored 114 of them month by month against years of wave hindcast. 56 of the 100 with a season peak for three months or less.
Fares
The cheapest surf trips right now, by departure city
Real round trips we have seen priced, each into a month the break rates good. Pick your city: the cheapest trip depends on where you start.
Apps
Surfline alternatives, sorted by the job you need done
For a free spot forecast, use surf-forecast.com. For model charts, Windy or Windguru. For ground truth, a NOAA buoy. Only the cams have no substitute, so keep Surfline if the cam at your home break earns its subscription.
Head to head
Two breaks, one trip: both seasons side by side, from years of hindcast.
Fly with a board
What each airline charges for a board, and whether your bag fits.
Gear
Surfboard bag size limits: every bag against every airline
Airlines measure a board bag as length plus width plus height. 51 of the 128 sizes we list clear 115 linear inches, the most common cap. The rest depend on which airline you fly.
Fees
What every airline charges to fly a surfboard
Twenty-two of 61 airlines add no board fee: the board flies as a checked bag, so you pay what that bag costs on your fare. Twenty-six charge a board fee, from $12 to $200 each way. Twelve publish no figure at all.
Reference
The board bag cheat sheet: every airline on one page
Who adds no board fee, who charges one, and who to call before you book. Print it and keep it with your boarding pass.
Tool
Does your board bag fit? Check it against every airline
Pick your bag and see each airline's published verdict before you book. No signup.
Board policy, airline by airline
- Aer Lingus
- Aeroméxico
- Air Canada
- Air France
- Air Mauritius
- Air New Zealand
- Air Tahiti
- Air Tahiti Nui
- Airlink / FlyAirlink
- Alaska Airlines
- Allegiant Air
- American Airlines
- ANA (All Nippon Airways)
- Avelo Airlines
- Avianca
- Azul Linhas Aéreas
- Batik Air
- Breeze Airways
- British Airways
- Citilink
- Copa Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- easyJet
- Emirates
- Fiji Airways
- FlySafair
- French Bee
- Frontier Airlines
- Garuda Indonesia
- GOL Linhas Aéreas
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Iberia
- Icelandair
- Indonesia AirAsia
- Japan Airlines
- JetBlue
- Jetstar
- KLM
- LATAM Airlines
- Lion Air
- Loganair
- Lufthansa
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Air Maroc
- Ryanair
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- Southwest Airlines
- SriLankan Airlines
- Sun Country Airlines
- TAP Air Portugal
- Transavia (France & Netherlands)
- United Airlines
- Virgin Australia
- Viva Aerobus
- Volaris
- Volotea
- Vueling
- Wings Air
- ZIPAIR
- All airlines
Surf spots
Every break we score, by country. Pick a country or browse all 114.
Spot guides
When each surf spot is good, month by month
114 breaks in 32 countries. Typical wave size, surfable days, the wetsuit and the nearest airport for every month of the year.
Wave pools
The surf trip that cannot get skunked. 17 public pools, session prices as published.
Wave pools
Every wave pool you can fly to, and what a session costs
17 public pools in 11 countries, each with the operator's published session price and the nearest airport.
Guide
Wave pool 101: how a session works and which one to book
A wave pool is the one surf trip that cannot get skunked. You book a timed session at a set price, so the only cost that moves is the flight.
- URBNSURF Melbourne from A$114
- URBNSURF Sydney from A$114
- O2 Surftown MUC from €89
- SrfPark Tel Aviv from ₪320
- Surf Stadium Japan from ¥11,000
- RiF010 from €45
- YourWave Hawea from NZ$45
- Wave Park from ₩80,000
- Alaïa Bay from CHF 89
- Al Ain Adventure from AED 325
- Surf Abu Dhabi from AED 1,800
- Lost Shore Surf Resort from £60
- The Wave from £50
- Atlantic Park from $119
- Palm Springs Surf Club from $100
- Revel Surf from $75
- Waco Surf from $129
Where to surf by month
Somewhere is always in season. The breaks at their best each month.
Cheap surf trips by city
The good months near you, priced from your airport.
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