Swell Cabin › South America › Peru

Chicama surf guide

The world's longest left: on a big south swell, linked-up rides along Chicama's points can top two kilometres.

Location
La Libertad, Peru (-7.7030, -79.4400)
Best season
Mar – Oct: March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Water temperature
16–20°C (3/2 mm (warmest) to 4/3 mm (coldest))
Waves
Point break
Suits
Intermediate, Advanced surfers

Live surf cams in Chicama

Surf clips from Chicama

Surf spots in Chicama

What's on in Chicama

Puerto Malabrigo (Chicama) is a small, quiet fishing town built around its famously long left. Evenings are spent at the surf lodges and hostels; no bars with regular nights or upcoming events could be found online.

Updated 2026-11-03.

Where to stay in Chicama

19 places to stay within 10 km: 15 hotel, 2 guest house, 2 surf camp. Compare them by distance to the nearest surf spot on the interactive map.

Surf camps: Chicama Surf Camp, Surf House Chicama.

Cafés, food and surf shops

3 cafés and bakeries, 22 restaurants and bars, 2 surf schools and 0 surf shops nearby. Surf schools: The chicama project surf, Chicama Beach - Worlds Longest Wave.

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to surf in Chicama?

The best surf season in Chicama is Mar – Oct (March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October). The sea ranges from 16°C to 20°C over the year.

Which months have the most good surf days in Chicama?

Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Chicama's best spot were good or better most often in May (100% of days, 78% great), July (99% of days, 76% great) and June (97% of days, 77% great), and least often in December (85%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.

Do I need a wetsuit in Chicama?

Water temperature in Chicama is 16–20°C: 3/2 mm (warmest) to 4/3 mm (coldest).

Is Chicama good for beginner surfers?

Chicama is better for intermediate and advanced surfers.

What are the surf spots in Chicama?

Chicama has 2 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Chicama (Point break, left-hander, advanced surfers, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides, rising); Puemape (Point break, left-hander, advanced surfers, best at low to mid tide).

Where should surfers stay in Chicama?

Swell Cabin lists 19 places to stay within 10 km of Chicama, including 2 surf camps such as Chicama Surf Camp and Surf House Chicama, 2 guesthouses and homestays. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.

What is the nightlife like in Chicama?

Puerto Malabrigo (Chicama) is a small, quiet fishing town built around its famously long left. Evenings are spent at the surf lodges and hostels; no bars with regular nights or upcoming events could be found online.

What is the surf forecast for Chicama this week?

Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Chicama and each of its 2 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/chicama: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway).

When is the best tide to surf in Chicama?

It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for Chicama weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times (approximate: there is no tide gauge near the town).

Is the Chicama surf forecast checked against measurements?

Yes. The open water off Chicama is checked against the satellite altimeters (Copernicus Marine's near-real-time wave heights): 41 satellite passes within 100 km since 2026-09-24, typically 69 km out, put the forecast wave height within 20% of the measurement 100% of the time. Of the three wave models compared, Météo-France has been the closest to the satellites here. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00179). Last checked 2026-11-05.

How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Chicama?

Trust in this page's data is low (52/100): the town has not been verified against sources in the last 12 months; 0 of 2 spots fully verified, 2 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; 1 open audit warning. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md).

Is there a live surf cam in Chicama?

Yes: Chicama on SkylineWebcams (free); Puerto Malabrigo on SkylineWebcams (free). Swell Cabin checks these cams regularly.

Where can I take surf lessons in Chicama?

Surf schools in and around Chicama include The chicama project surf and Chicama Beach - Worlds Longest Wave.

Nearby surf towns

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