What is the best tide for Carmel Beach?

Carmel 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 Carmel Beach?

W–NW groundswell suits Carmel 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 Carmel Beach good for beginners?

Carmel Beach suits intermediate-expert surfers, over steep white 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 Carmel Beach?

steep white sand. 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 Carmel Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Carmel Beach Surf Report & Forecast

Powerful wedging A-frames on white sand.

2 ftmax ~3 ft

Fair-Good · surging

Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.

Swell: 1.2 ft at 15s from the SW
Wind: 5 mph N cross-shore
Tide: 5.1 ft
Break depth: 3 ft
Power: 2 kW/m
Water: 60°F · 3/2 fullsuit

Updated Aug 25, 9:44 PM PDT · 3 swell trains · how this is calculated

How Carmel Beach is breaking right now

Loading Carmel Beach…

Live · Carmel Beach, solving nowOpen Carmel Beach on the map

Solved in your browser from this spot’s seafloor and current swell

What the seafloor does to this wave

A cut straight out from Carmel Beach, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.

Why Carmel Beach looks like this right now

The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.

3 swells at once
1.2 ft at 15s from the SW carrying 57% of the energy, plus 1.0 ft at 5s from the W (36%), plus 0.4 ft at 10s from the WSW (7%).
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 0.82 · 71% 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
5.1 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 3 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 →
Barely any wind
5 mph from the N, against a shoreline facing 249°.
Too light to shape the face either way. At this speed the wave's own texture wins, whatever the direction.
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. Why period matters more than height →

Carmel Beach surf forecast, next seven days

Building — ~3.3 ft long-period groundswell from the SW filling in Sun morning (+4.4 d, medium confidence)

Seven-day surf forecast for Carmel Beach: wave height, best window, swell, wind and tide.
Day	Surf	Best window	Swell	Wind	Tide
Wed, Aug 26	2-3 ft	7pmFair-Good	1.3 ft at 14s SW	2 mph onshore	Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.2 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm
Thu, Aug 27	2-3 ft	10am to 1pmFair-Good	1.1 ft at 14s SW	7 mph cross-shore	Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.4 ft 11amLow 2.3 ft 4pmHigh 5.7 ft 10pm
Fri, Aug 28	2-3 ft	11am to 1pmFair-Good	1.6 ft at 13s WSW	9 mph cross-shore	Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.0 ft 5pmHigh 5.5 ft 11pm
Sat, Aug 29	2-3 ft	11amFair-Good	1.4 ft at 18s SW	11 mph cross-shore	Low 0.5 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 12pmLow 1.7 ft 6pmHigh 5.1 ft 11pm
Sun, Aug 30	3 ft	8am to 5pmFair	1.8 ft at 15s SW	10 mph cross-shore	Low 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.2 ft 12pmLow 1.4 ft 6pm
Mon, Aug 31	2-3 ft	11amFair-Good	1.6 ft at 14s SW	9 mph cross-shore	High 4.7 ft 12amLow 1.4 ft 6amHigh 5.4 ft 1pmLow 1.2 ft 7pm
Tue, Sep 1	3 ft	11amFair	1.9 ft at 14s SW	8 mph cross-shore	High 4.2 ft 1amLow 1.9 ft 7amHigh 5.6 ft 1pmLow 1.0 ft 8pm

Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.

How Carmel Beach works

Steep, wedging peaks that break hard and close fast — a lot more serious than the postcard suggests. Best on a clean W/NW swell with the morning offshore.

Bottom: steep white sand
Best tide: low to mid
Best swell: W–NW groundswell
Suits: intermediate-expert

Common questions about Carmel Beach

What is the best tide for Carmel Beach?: Carmel 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 Carmel Beach?: W–NW groundswell suits Carmel 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 Carmel Beach good for beginners?: Carmel Beach suits intermediate-expert surfers, over steep white 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 Carmel Beach?: steep white sand. 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 Carmel Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Nearby breaks

Monastery Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
Asilomar State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
Marina State Beach surf report · 2 ft
Moss Landing State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
Zmudowski State Beach surf report · shorebreak only