Bolsa Chica surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 5am
3 ft · sets to 4
Fair-GoodBest today 7–11am
Swell lines up; it is modest in size.
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 5am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell2.1 ft · 15 s · SSWMakes the wave: 99% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind2 mph from the SECross-shore to a shoreline facing 232°Light
- Tide3.3 ft, risingNext high 3.8 ft at 7:05am · NAVD88, NOAA 9410660 observed
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 5 ft of water
- Energy92 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water73° · air 65° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best window7–11am
Against what Bolsa Chica 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 5amHuntington Beach Pier, Seal Beach Pier and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand (seasonal bars)
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand (seasonal bars)
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2022), 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 thisOne swell, uncrossed, the seafloor focuses it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 5am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
One swell, uncrossed
2.1 ft at 15s from the SSW and nothing significant crossing it.
A single train is the cleanest case there is: the sets arrive from one angle, so the peak should sit in the same place each time instead of wandering. Why period matters more than height
The seafloor focuses it
Kr 1.06 · 86% of modelled rays break.
Contours underneath are bending wave energy together into a band. That concentration is the peak, and it's why this spot can be noticeably bigger than its neighbours on the same swell. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
3.3 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 5 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
2 mph from the SE, against a shoreline facing 232°.
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 10 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 Bolsa Chica worksA long state beach north of the Huntington cliffs
A long state beach north of the Huntington cliffs — the same swell as HB but spread over enough sand that you can usually find an empty peak.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellS–SW or W
- Suitsintermediate
1 swell train in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Bolsa Chica
- What is the best tide for Bolsa Chica?
- Bolsa Chica 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 Bolsa Chica?
- S–SW or W suits Bolsa Chica 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 Bolsa Chica good for beginners?
- Bolsa Chica suits intermediate 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 Bolsa Chica?
- sand (seasonal bars). 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 Bolsa Chica on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.