Guide

Surf levels: what’s yours?

Your surf level is what you can do in the water, not how long you have surfed. Schools, camps and federations climb the same four rungs. Find yours, then see where and when there are waves for it.

The four levels

Every scheme we read builds the same ladder: the whitewater first, then unbroken (green) waves, then speed and turns, then manoeuvres linked together. Names differ; the order does not.

1. First lessons
You can
Nothing yet, or a few lessons.
You learn
To paddle, stand up and ride the whitewater straight to the beach.
Where
A sandy beach, in waist- to chest-deep water near the shore.
Waves
The foam of a wave that has already broken: knee to waist high, whatever the sea outside.
Also called
Beginner, level 1, whitewater (in France “mousse”).
2. Beginner (green waves)
You can
Stand up and ride the whitewater on your own, and turn a little.
You learn
To catch waves before they break and ride along the face, to one side.
Where
Small waves at a beach, or a gentle reef; still close to where they break.
Waves
Knee to chest high.
Also called
Lower intermediate (Lapoint), novice (Surfing Australia), improver (The Wave), beginner 2.
Practice
Lapoint asks for about 8 surfing days with a coach before its level 2.
3. Intermediate
You can
Paddle out past the break (duck dive or turtle roll), catch green waves alone and ride left and right.
You learn
To make speed and turn: bottom turn, cutback; to pick your spot in the lineup.
Where
Out the back, at the peak of beaches and some reefs.
Waves
Chest high to just overhead.
Also called
Intermediate, level 3.
Practice
Lapoint asks for about 40 surfing days before its level 3.
4. Advanced
You can
Link manoeuvres on one wave and choose your waves.
You learn
More powerful waves, reefs and points; floaters and snaps.
Where
Beaches, reefs and points.
Waves
Head high and up.
Also called
Advanced, level 4.
Practice
Lapoint asks for about 65 surfing days before its level 4.

Check your level

Tick what you can already do. Each group you complete takes you up a level.

To move on to green waves

I stand up in the whitewater most times
I ride the whitewater to the beach on my own

To be intermediate

I paddle out past the breaking waves (duck dive or turtle roll)
I catch unbroken waves on my own and ride left and right

To be advanced

I link turns (bottom turn, cutback) on one wave
I am at ease in head-high waves

In doubt between two levels, take the lower one: almost every school says so.

How a wave is measured

Surfers measure a wave with the body: the face of the wave, from its base to its crest, at the peak where it breaks. That is how schools, camps and surf forecasts such as Surfline speak: “knee high”, “chest high”, “overhead”.

Swell forecasts and buoys measure something else: the significant height of the open sea, the average of the highest third of the waves, kilometres out. Reaching a beach, a wave grows as the seabed slows it, and more so the longer its period; then the seabed, headlands and sandbars take part of that back. So the same “1.5 m” can be a head-high wave or nearly a metre overhead.

The body scale

Knee high: 0.6 m
Waist high: 0.9 m
Chest high: 1.2 m
Head high: 1.5 m
Overhead: 1.8 m
Double overhead: 3 m

Face heights from Surfline’s rating of surf heights.

From the forecast to the wave

The face you can expect at a beach open to the swell, for a given open-sea swell and period: Komar & Gaughan’s breaker height (1972) times 0.7, the value for an ordinary beach (up to 1 at an exposed peak that focuses the swell), about ±30% on a given beach and day.

Open-sea swell	8 s period	12 s period	16 s period
0.5 m	0.6 m (knee to waist)	0.7 m (knee to waist)	0.8 m (knee to waist)
1 m	1 m (waist to chest)	1.2 m (chest to head)	1.3 m (chest to head)
1.5 m	1.4 m (chest to head)	1.6 m (head high)	1.8 m (overhead)
2 m	1.7 m (head high)	2 m (overhead)	2.3 m (overhead)
2.5 m	2.1 m (overhead)	2.4 m (overhead)	2.7 m (overhead)

Why a first lesson works on big days

In a first lesson you do not take the wave at the peak: you take the foam near the shore, standing waist deep. Once it breaks, the foam shrinks as it rolls in and its height follows the depth of the water, not the sea outside: knee to waist high almost always (Thornton & Guza, 1982). You can learn with a big sea, as long as the beach does not close out or pull with currents; that is why our tables count the days that are too big on their own.

How the site uses these levels

For every surf town we count, month by month over 30 years of swell data (1995–2025, Copernicus Marine), on how many days at least one of its spots has waves for each level.

First lessons: waves of 0.5 to 2 m at a beach or at the beach the town’s camps say they teach on (on the height at the spot, calibrated against what camps say). The other three levels by the face at the peak: beginner (green waves) 0.6–1.2 m at a beach or a spot Wannasurf rates for all surfers, intermediate 1.2–2 m, advanced 1.5 m and up, at any spot.

A month is good for a level when most of its days are (50% or more), the same line the waves filter uses. Wind and tide are not measured.

How we calculate every figure

Questions

What surf level am I?

It depends on what you can do, not on how long you have surfed. Still learning to stand up in the whitewater: first lessons. You ride the whitewater alone and want unbroken waves: beginner (green waves). You paddle out past the break and catch waves alone both ways: intermediate. You link manoeuvres: advanced. In doubt, take the lower level.

What waves are good for learning to surf?

For first lessons, knee- to waist-high foam on a sandy beach without rips. For your first green waves, knee- to chest-high waves that break slowly, at a beach or a gentle reef.

How big is a head-high wave?

About 1.5 m of face, from base to crest (Surfline’s scale: knee 0.6 m, waist 0.9, chest 1.2, head 1.5, overhead 1.8, double overhead 3).

Why does the forecast say 1.5 m when the wave looks bigger or smaller?

A forecast gives the open-sea swell. The wave that breaks on a beach grows with the period and loses to the seabed and to shelter. A 1.5 m swell gives a face of about 1.61 m at an open beach with a 12 s period, and about 1.37 m with 8 s.

How many days of surfing does it take to become intermediate?

There is no official figure. As a reference, Lapoint asks for about 40 surfing days before its intermediate level and about 8 before starting on green waves.

Can I learn to surf in winter, when the waves are big?

At many beaches, yes: the foam near the shore is about the same size whatever the sea. What stops a lesson is a beach that closes out or has strong currents, which is why our tables show the days too big for first lessons.