Muir Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 9pm
3–4 ft · sets to 5
GoodNo window today · next tomorrow All day (7am–7pm)
Swell lines up. Wind is the limiting factor.
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 9pm readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell2.5 ft · 13 s · WSWMakes the wave: 72% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 1.2 ft · 5 s · WSecondary: 19% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.9 ft · 8 s · WSecondary: 9% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind20 mph from the WNWCross-shore to a shoreline facing 204°Strong
- Tide2.8 ft, fallingNext low 0.7 ft at 12:42am · NAVD88, NOAA 9414290 observed
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 6 ft of water
- Energy123 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water61° · air 56° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowNone today · next Tomorrow All day (7am–7pm)
No usable window in daylight today.
Against what Muir Beach likesWhy it is Good, not Epic
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 9pmRodeo Beach, Stinson Beach and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand and cobble in a headland cove
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand and cobble in a headland cove
- 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, the seafloor spreads it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 9pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
3 swells at once
2.5 ft at 13s from the WSW carrying 72% of the energy, plus 1.2 ft at 5s from the W (19%), plus 0.9 ft at 8s from the W (9%).
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 spreads it
Kr 0.84 · 47% of modelled rays break.
Energy is fanning outwards over the bottom here, so the wave arrives smaller than the open-ocean swell height suggests. Nothing is wrong with the forecast. The seafloor took the difference. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
2.8 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 6 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
20 mph from the WNW, against a shoreline facing 204°.
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 2 min, roughly 9 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 Muir Beach worksA pocket cove at the mouth of Redwood Creek, tucked between…
A pocket cove at the mouth of Redwood Creek, tucked between steep headlands — small, fickle, and pretty. Works when a west swell lines up with the cove's narrow window.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellW–SW
- Suitsintermediate
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Muir Beach
- What is the best tide for Muir Beach?
- Muir Beach works best on low to 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 Muir Beach?
- W–SW suits Muir Beach 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 Muir Beach good for beginners?
- Muir Beach suits intermediate surfers, over sand and cobble in a headland cove. 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 Muir Beach?
- sand and cobble in a headland cove. 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 Muir Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.