Monastery Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2am
3–4 ft · sets to 5
FairBest available today 7am–1pm
Swell lines up; wind is tolerable.
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
- Swell2.9 ft · 7 s · WNWSecondary: 56% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 2.5 ft · 11 s · WNWMakes the wave: 44% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind8 mph from the NNWOnshore to a shoreline facing 317°Moderate
- Tide1.2 ft, risingNext high 4.1 ft at 7:44am · NAVD88, NOAA 9413450 observed
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 6 ft of water
- Energy164 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water66° · air 56° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best window7am–1pm · also 1–7pm
No strong window today. Onshore wind all day; lightest 6–7am.
Against what Monastery Beach likesWhy it is Fair, not Fair-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 2amCarmel Beach, Asilomar State Beach and 3 more
The break
The seafloorCoarse sand plunging into the Carmel Canyon
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomcoarse sand plunging into the Carmel Canyon
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2023), 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 spreads it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 2am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
2.5 ft at 11s from the WNW carrying 44% of the energy, plus 2.9 ft at 7s from the WNW (56%).
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 0.77 · 78% 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
1.2 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 onshore
8 mph from the NNW, against a shoreline facing 317°.
Pushing into the back of the wave from the sea, making it crumble and break early instead of standing up. Note this is measured against the angle THIS break faces, which is why one spot can be blown out while the one round the headland is fine.
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.
How Monastery Beach worksThe Carmel Submarine Canyon comes within metres of the sand, so…
The Carmel Submarine Canyon comes within metres of the sand, so swell arrives almost unshoaled and detonates on a near-vertical beach. Locally nicknamed Mortuary Beach; people die here regularly.
- Best tidelow
- Best swellW–NW
- Suitsexpert
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Monastery Beach
- What is the best tide for Monastery Beach?
- Monastery Beach works best on low 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 Monastery Beach?
- W–NW suits Monastery 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 Monastery Beach good for beginners?
- Monastery Beach suits expert surfers, over coarse sand plunging into the Carmel Canyon. 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 Monastery Beach?
- coarse sand plunging into the Carmel Canyon. 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 Monastery Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.