This paper addresses the approximation of surface diffusion flow using Cahn–Hilliard-type models. We introduce and analyze a new variational phase field model that associates the classical Cahn–Hilliard energy with two degenerate mobilities and guarantees a second-order accuracy in the approximation of the sharp limit. We also introduce simple and efficient numerical schemes to approximate the solutions to three Cahn–Hilliard-type models for surface diffusion flow, including the one we propose, and we provide 2D and 3D numerical experiments that illustrate the advantages of our approach.