Moss Landing State Beach Surf Report & Forecast
Sand break sitting on the lip of a 100 m canyon.
Current conditions
2-3 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 SSW
- Wind
- 8 mph SSE cross-shore
- Tide
- 5.4 ft
- Break depth
- 4 ft
- Power
- 3 kW/m
- Water
- 59°F · 3/2 fullsuit
Updated Aug 25, 6:42 PM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Moss Landing 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 Moss Landing State Beach, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Moss Landing State Beach looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.2 ft at 15s from the SSW carrying 38% of the energy, plus 1.6 ft at 5s from the W (62%).
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 →
It bends on the way in
That swell leaves deep water heading 240° and reaches the break at 210°, bent 30° on the way.
Shallow water slows a wave, so the end of the crest that reaches the shallows first swings around. That is refraction. It's why this spot can be working on a swell direction the open coast is missing, and why the swell angle on a buoy is never the angle at your break. Why two breaks a mile apart differ →
The seafloor is neutral here
Kr 1.01 · 47% 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 4 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
8 mph from the SSE, against a shoreline facing 233°.
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 4 min, roughly 12 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 →
Moss Landing State Beach surf forecast, next 6 days
Building — ~3.1 ft short-period windswell from the W filling in Thu evening (+2.0 d, high confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 ft | 6am to 10amGood | 1.3 ft at 14s SW | 2 mph cross-shore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.2 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 6am to 1pmFair-Good | 1.4 ft at 12s SW | 1 mph cross-shore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.4 ft 11amLow 2.3 ft 4pmHigh 5.7 ft 10pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 8am to 1pmFair-Good | 1.2 ft at 11s SW | 5 mph cross-shore | Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.0 ft 5pmHigh 5.5 ft 11pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 8am to 11amFair-Good | 1.6 ft at 6s WSW | 2 mph cross-shore | Low 0.5 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 12pmLow 1.7 ft 6pmHigh 5.1 ft 11pm | |
| 2 ft | 8am to 11amFair-Good | 1.7 ft at 7s W | 2 mph cross-shore | Low 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.2 ft 12pmLow 1.4 ft 6pm | |
| 1-2 ft | 8amFair-Good | 1.4 ft at 6s W | 3 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 Moss Landing State Beach works
The head of the Monterey Submarine Canyon reaches almost to the beach here, so swell arrives with far less shoaling than anywhere else in the bay — it can be lined up and heavy while the beaches either side are soft.
- Bottom
- sand, at the head of the Monterey Submarine Canyon
- Best tide
- low to mid
- Best swell
- SW–W
- Suits
- intermediate-expert
Common questions about Moss Landing State Beach
- What is the best tide for Moss Landing State Beach?
- Moss Landing State 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 Moss Landing State Beach?
- SW–W suits Moss Landing 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 Moss Landing State Beach good for beginners?
- Moss Landing State Beach suits intermediate-expert surfers, over sand, at the head of the Monterey Submarine 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 Moss Landing State Beach?
- sand, at the head of the Monterey Submarine 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 Moss Landing State Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Zmudowski State Beach surf report · shorebreak only
- Marina State Beach surf report · 2 ft
- Asilomar State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
- Carmel Beach surf report · 2 ft
- Monastery Beach surf report · 2 ft