Stinson Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 9pm
4–5 ft · sets to 6
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
- Swell3.1 ft · 12 s · SWMakes the wave: 90% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.8 ft · 8 s · WSWSecondary: 5% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind13 mph from the WNWCross-shore to a shoreline facing 208°Strong
- Tide2.8 ft, fallingNext low 0.7 ft at 12:42am · NAVD88, NOAA 9414290 observed
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 7 ft of water
- Energy132 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water61° · air 54° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowNone today · next Tomorrow All day (7am–7pm)
No usable window in daylight today.
Against what Stinson 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 9pmBolinas (The Channel), Muir Beach and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand (W/NW shadowed by Pt Reyes/Duxbury)
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand (W/NW shadowed by Pt Reyes/Duxbury)
- 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 thisTwo swells at once, the seafloor is neutral here, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 9pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
3.1 ft at 12s from the SW carrying 90% of the energy, plus 0.8 ft at 8s from the WSW (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 is neutral here
Kr 0.98 · 92% 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. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
2.8 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 7 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
13 mph from the WNW, against a shoreline facing 208°.
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 8 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 Stinson Beach worksMellow and consistent
Mellow and consistent — the Marin beginner/surf-school beach. Shadowed from NW swell.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellSW
- Suitsbeginner
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Stinson Beach
- What is the best tide for Stinson Beach?
- Stinson 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 Stinson Beach?
- SW suits Stinson 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 Stinson Beach good for beginners?
- Stinson Beach suits beginner surfers, over sand. 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 Stinson Beach?
- sand (W/NW shadowed by Pt Reyes/Duxbury). 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 Stinson Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.