TOURISM: New Study Crowns Cocoa Beach the Best Surfing Destination in the United States

study by ParkSleepFly analyzed surfing spots around the world

A new study has crowned Cocoa Beach the best-surfing spot in the United States.

The study by ParkSleepFly analyzed surfing spots around the world on various factors such as Google searches, Instagram tags, coastline length, and average sea temperatures to reveal the best surfing spots in the USA.

The Top 10 Surfing Spots in the U.S.:

Rank	Surf Spot	Location	Number Of Surf Breaks	Avg. Monthly Searches	Length of Coastline (km)	Average High Sea Temperature (°C)	Total Tags (Instagram)	Overall Best Surfing Spot Score
1	Cocoa Beach	Florida	78	5,800	19.3	27	3,046	8.32
2	Waikiki	Oahu	122	4,000	3.8	27	6,684	7.69
3	Huntington Beach	Orange County	51	1,770	13.6	21	4,473	6.67
4	Montauk	New York	44	2,180	–	22	2,216	6.43
5	Folly Beach	South Carolina	23	1,720	9.6	29	1,749	5.80
6	San Clemente	Orange County	51	890	6.4	22	3,108	5.42
7	La Jolla	San Diego	71	6,120	1.6	22	3	5.37
8	Virginia Beach	Virginia	12	1,260	4.8	26	469	3.91
9	Half-Moon Bay	Washington	29	1,720	6.4	15	129	3.71
10	Santa Cruz Harbour	Orange County	30	170	123.9	15	0	3.13

Ranking in first place is Cocoa Beach in Florida. The beach is an iconic and busy surfing hub with an extensive surfing history dating back to the 1950s. The Beach is particularly popular on social with over 3,000 surfing-related Instagram hashtags. The sea temperatures are also favorable, averaging 27°C, so it’s a great place to take to the sea.

Hawaii is well-known for its gorgeous beaches and warm seas, so it’s no surprise that Waikiki in Oahu ranks in the second position. Oahu offers 122 surf breaks and a coastline of 3.8km to explore. Similarly to Cocoa Beach in Florida, surfers are in for a warm ride with average sea temperatures of 27°C.

Huntington Beach in Orange County, California, is the third best surfing spot in the USA. It ranks well for the number of surfing breaks at 51; on average, the spot is searched 1,770 times per month across the globe. The seas appear to be slightly cooler than in Florida and Oahu, though, averaging at 21°C.

Further Study Insights:

■ The world’s top surfing spot is Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca, Mexico, with a surfing spot score of 7.5 out of 10.

■ Uluwatu in Bali, Indonesia, is the world’s most searched surfing spot, with over 10,000 monthly searches over the past 12 months.

■ The most popular surfing spot according to Instagram is Noosa in Queensland, Australia, with a total of 16,036 tagged posts.

You can view the full research HERE.

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