Moss Landing State Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 8pm
2–3 ft
Fair-GoodNo window today · next tomorrow 7am–12pm
Swell lines up. Size 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 8pm readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell1.4 ft · 13 s · SWMakes the wave: 88% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 21° from WSW in deep water.
- 0.5 ft · 5 s · WNWSecondary: 12% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind3 mph from the SSECross-shore to a shoreline facing 233°Light
- Tide1.5 ft, fallingNext low 0.7 ft at 10:14pm · NAVD88, NOAA 9413450 observed
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 4 ft of water
- Energy30 kJHeight² × period²Marginal
- Water65° · air 68° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowNone today · next Tomorrow 7am–12pm
No usable window in daylight today.
Against what Moss Landing State Beach likesWhy it is Fair-Good, not 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 8pmZmudowski State Beach, Marina State Beach and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand, at the head of the Monterey Submarine Canyon
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand, at the head of the Monterey Submarine 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, it bends on the way in, the seafloor spreads it
Read from the current hour (today at 8pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.4 ft at 13s from the SW carrying 88% of the energy, plus 0.5 ft at 5s from the WNW (12%).
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 239° and reaches the break at 218°, bent 21° 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 spreads it
Kr 0.76 · 61% 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.
Where it trips
1.5 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
Barely any wind
3 mph from the SSE, against a shoreline facing 233°.
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 1 min, roughly 6 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 Moss Landing State Beach worksThe head of the Monterey Submarine Canyon reaches almost to the…
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.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellSW–W
- Suitsintermediate-expert
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 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.