Bolinas (The Channel) surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2am
2–3 ft
Fair-GoodBest today All day (7am–7pm)
Nothing is clearly limiting, but the tide is only near its band and it is modest in size.
The wave field solved for this hour on the real seafloor, playing forward. A model, not a camera.
Loads when it comes into view.The wave field solved for this hour on the real seafloor, playing forward. A model, not a camera.
This hour
The 2am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell1.6 ft · 17 s · SSEMakes the wave: 41% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 48° from SSW in deep water.
- 1.3 ft · 8 s · SSWSecondary: 30% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 33° from SW in deep water.
- 1.1 ft · 12 s · SSecondary: 23% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 39° from SW in deep water.
- Wind6 mph from the WNWOffshore to a shoreline facing 140°Moderate
- Tide1.5 ft, risingNext high 4.4 ft at 7:47am · NAVD88, NOAA 9414290 observed
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 4 ft of water
- Energy144 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water60° · air 62° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (7am–7pm)
Against what Bolinas (The Channel) likesWhy it is Fair-Good, not Good
Preferred tide and swell are surfer-consensus notes for this spot, not yet reviewed against measurements. Wind is judged by the general rule (light or offshore helps). No percent match: these are plain states and reasons.
Nearby at 2amStinson Beach, Muir Beach and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand over rock (lagoon-mouth bar)
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand over rock (lagoon-mouth bar)
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2022), relative to NAVD88. Depth shown is below the selected hour’s tide.
- CoverageRock reef and headland shapes resolve well. Nearshore sandbars are interpolated flat in this dataset, so a beachbreak’s bar is not in the picture. A tile’s year is its publication, not the survey date.
Why it breaks like this3 swells at once, it bends on the way in, the seafloor is neutral here
Read from the current hour (today at 2am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
3 swells at once
1.6 ft at 17s from the SSE carrying 41% of the energy, plus 1.3 ft at 8s from the SSW (30%), plus 1.1 ft at 12s from the S (23%).
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
It bends on the way in
That swell leaves deep water heading 208° and reaches the break at 160°, bent 48° on the way.
Shallow water slows a wave, so the end of the crest that reaches the shallows first swings around. That is refraction. It's why this spot can be working on a swell direction the open coast is missing, and why the swell angle on a buoy is never the angle at your break. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
The seafloor is neutral here
Kr 1.02 · 88% of modelled rays break.
Energy arrives roughly as it left deep water: this bottom neither concentrates the swell nor fans it out, so what the buoy sees is close to what you get.
Where it trips
1.5 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 offshore
6 mph from the WNW, against a shoreline facing 140°.
Blowing from the land into the face, holding the wave up as it stands. That is what grooms it and gives you the clean, hollow version of this spot.
How the sets come
About one set every 3 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.
How Bolinas (The Channel) worksCrumbly, forgiving beginner peaks at the inlet mouth
Crumbly, forgiving beginner peaks at the inlet mouth — lefts on the Bolinas side.
- Best tidemid
- Best swellS–SW
- Suitsbeginner
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Bolinas (The Channel)
- What is the best tide for Bolinas (The Channel)?
- Bolinas (The Channel) works best on mid 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 Bolinas (The Channel)?
- S–SW suits Bolinas (The Channel) 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 Bolinas (The Channel) good for beginners?
- Bolinas (The Channel) suits beginner surfers, over sand over rock. 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 Bolinas (The Channel)?
- sand over rock (lagoon-mouth bar). 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 Bolinas (The Channel) on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.