Marina State Beach Surf Report & Forecast
The bay's heaviest sand — steep, fast, unforgiving.
Current conditions
2 ftmax ~3 ft
Fair-Good · plunging
Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.
- Swell
- 1.9 ft at 5s from the WNW
- Wind
- 14 mph SSW cross-shore
- Tide
- 5.4 ft
- Break depth
- 3 ft
- Power
- 1 kW/m
- Water
- 59°F · 3/2 fullsuit
Updated Aug 25, 6:42 PM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Marina State Beach 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 Marina State Beach, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Marina State Beach looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.9 ft at 5s from the WNW carrying 78% of the energy, plus 0.9 ft at 15s from the W (17%).
The shorter, steeper train is carrying most of the energy here, so expect a choppier, less organised lineup than the longest period in the list would suggest on its own. Why period matters more than height →
The seafloor is neutral here
Kr 1.00 · 71% 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
5.4 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 →
Wind is cross-shore
14 mph from the SSW, against a shoreline facing 282°.
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 1 min, roughly 7 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 →
Marina State Beach surf forecast, next 6 days
Building — ~3.9 ft short-period windswell from the WNW filling in Thu evening (+2.0 d, high confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 ft | 6am to 10amFair-Good | 1.0 ft at 14s W | 5 mph onshore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.2 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm | |
| 2-4 ft | 6am to 12pmFair | 2.4 ft at 6s WNW | 6 mph onshore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.4 ft 11amLow 2.3 ft 4pmHigh 5.7 ft 10pm | |
| 2-4 ft | 11am to 1pmFair-Good | 2.6 ft at 6s WNW | 7 mph onshore | Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.0 ft 5pmHigh 5.5 ft 11pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8am to 11amFair | 2.8 ft at 7s WNW | 7 mph onshore | Low 0.5 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 12pmLow 1.7 ft 6pmHigh 5.1 ft 11pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 8am to 11amFair | 2.7 ft at 7s WNW | 7 mph onshore | Low 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.2 ft 12pmLow 1.4 ft 6pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 8amFair | 2.8 ft at 7s WNW | 7 mph onshore | High 4.7 ft 12amLow 1.4 ft 6amHigh 5.4 ft 1pmLow 1.2 ft 7pm |
Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.
How Marina State Beach works
A very steep beach that turns swell into a short, violent shorebreak. Serious drownings happen here. Experienced surfers only, and rarely worth it.
- Bottom
- sand (steep beach, heavy shorebreak)
- Best tide
- mid to high
- Best swell
- W–NW
- Suits
- expert
Common questions about Marina State Beach
- What is the best tide for Marina State Beach?
- Marina State Beach 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 Marina State Beach?
- W–NW suits Marina State 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 Marina State Beach good for beginners?
- Marina State Beach suits expert 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 Marina State Beach?
- sand (steep beach, heavy shorebreak). 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 Marina State Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Asilomar State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
- Moss Landing State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
- Zmudowski State Beach surf report · shorebreak only
- Carmel Beach surf report · 2 ft
- Monastery Beach surf report · 2 ft