Lunada Bay Surf Report & Forecast
The biggest wave in Los Angeles County — and the most defended.
Current conditions
2 ftmax ~3 ft
Fair · plunging
Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.
- Swell
- 1.1 ft at 17s from the W
- Wind
- 6 mph SSW cross-shore
- Tide
- 4.0 ft
- Break depth
- 4 ft
- Power
- 2 kW/m
- Water
- 74°F · trunks
Updated Aug 25, 9:44 PM PDT · 3 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Lunada Bay is breaking right now
Solved in your browser from this spot’s seafloor and current swell
What the seafloor does to this wave
A cut straight out from Lunada Bay, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Lunada Bay looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
3 swells at once
1.1 ft at 17s from the W carrying 41% of the energy, plus 1.1 ft at 12s from the WSW (46%), plus 0.4 ft at 6s from the W (5%).
The long-period train is the one building your wave. It holds the most energy and reaches deepest. The shorter ones cross it, which is what makes the surface look busy and the takeoff shift around. Why period matters more than height →
The seafloor focuses it
Kr 1.14 · 55% of modelled rays break.
Contours underneath are bending wave energy together into a band. That concentration is the peak, and it's why this spot can be noticeably bigger than its neighbours on the same swell. Why two breaks a mile apart differ →
Where it trips
4.0 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 4 ft of water.
A wave breaks when the water gets shallow enough relative to its height, so that depth is a contour on the seafloor, and the tide slides the whole break up and down it through the day. Same swell, different spot, a few hours apart. How the tide moves the break →
Wind is cross-shore
6 mph from the SSW, against a shoreline facing 256°.
Running across the face rather than into or against it. Less destructive than a straight onshore, but it puts a texture on the wall and can make the peak harder to read.
How the sets come
About one set every 4 min, roughly 12 waves in it.
Swell arrives in groups, not evenly. That spacing is what you are really timing your paddle-out to, and it's why the lineup can look flat for minutes and then produce five waves at once. Why period matters more than height →
Lunada Bay surf forecast, next seven days
Holding — 2.3–3.6 ft, no notable swell in the window
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-4 ft | 6am to 8amGood | 1.8 ft at 15s WSW | 3 mph offshore | Low -0.4 ft 3amHigh 4.1 ft 9amLow 1.8 ft 2pmHigh 5.9 ft 8pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 6am to 10amFair-Good | 2.0 ft at 11s WSW | 3 mph cross-shore | Low -0.4 ft 3amHigh 4.4 ft 10amLow 1.5 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 6am to 10amFair-Good | 2.0 ft at 10s WSW | 5 mph offshore | Low -0.3 ft 4amHigh 4.6 ft 10amLow 1.3 ft 3pmHigh 5.6 ft 10pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 8amFair-Good | 1.2 ft at 18s W | 3 mph onshore | Low -0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.9 ft 10amLow 1.1 ft 4pmHigh 5.2 ft 10pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 8amGood | 1.4 ft at 15s WSW | 5 mph offshore | Low 0.3 ft 5amHigh 5.1 ft 11amLow 0.9 ft 5pmHigh 4.7 ft 11pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 11amFair | 1.6 ft at 13s WSW | 7 mph cross-shore | Low 0.8 ft 5amHigh 5.3 ft 11amLow 0.8 ft 6pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 11amPoor-Fair | 1.7 ft at 11s WSW | 7 mph onshore | High 4.0 ft 12amLow 1.3 ft 5amHigh 5.4 ft 12pmLow 0.8 ft 7pm |
Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.
How Lunada Bay works
A big-wave point reef below the Palos Verdes cliffs that only wakes on a solid NW — it can hold well overhead when everything else in the bay is closed out. Notorious for organised localism, including litigated harassment of visitors.
- Bottom
- rock reef under the Palos Verdes bluffs
- Best tide
- mid to high
- Best swell
- big NW groundswell
- Suits
- expert
Common questions about Lunada Bay
- What is the best tide for Lunada Bay?
- Lunada Bay works best on mid to high tide. Tide matters because depth is what trips a wave: as the water fills in, the break slides shoreward onto a different part of the bottom, and over a shallow bank enough water stops it breaking at all. Our forecast solves each hour at that hour's real water level rather than assuming one.
- What swell direction is best for Lunada Bay?
- big NW groundswell suits Lunada Bay best. The direction that matters is the one at the break, not the one on the buoy: the seafloor bends swell on its way in, so a spot can work on an angle the open coast is missing. We model that bending for each break rather than reporting the offshore direction.
- Is Lunada Bay good for beginners?
- Lunada Bay suits expert surfers, over rock reef under the Palos Verdes bluffs. That is the wave this bottom makes on an average day, and it moves: the same break is a different proposition on a bigger swell or a different tide, so read the day's forecast rather than the label.
- What is the bottom like at Lunada Bay?
- rock reef under the Palos Verdes bluffs. It is the reason this break behaves the way it does: the shape of the seabed decides where the swell focuses, where it trips, and whether it spills or pitches. We model Lunada Bay on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Haggertys surf report · 2-3 ft
- Torrance Beach surf report · 2 ft
- Hermosa Pier surf report · 2-3 ft
- Manhattan Beach Pier surf report · 2-3 ft
- El Porto (Manhattan Beach) surf report · 2-3 ft