What is the best tide for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse works best on mid to 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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?

E–SE groundswell suits Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse good for beginners?

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse suits advanced surfers, over sand over the Diamond Shoals feeder bars, with old groins to the north. 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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?

sand over the Diamond Shoals feeder bars, with old groins to the north. 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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse surf report and forecast

BeachbreakBuxton, NCForecast 9:46am

Forecast for the selected hour

Now · 11am

11–14 ft · sets to 18

Fair-GoodBest today All day (11am–7pm)

Wind is the limiting factor.

3-hourlyGlobal model6-hourly

Hour by hour · TodaySunrise 7:11 · tap an hour

SurfftWindmphTideftSwells · from

Best

sunset 6:23

Model, not a camera ·Today 11am EDT

Open on the map

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 11am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water

Swell13.6 ft · 11 s · ENEMakes the wave: 100% of the energy. Direction at the break.
Wind35 mph from the NNECross-shore to a shoreline facing 103°Gale
Tide0.3 ft, risingNext high 1.1 ft at 1:44pm · NAVD88, NOAA 8654400 predicted (no live sensor)
BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 16 ft of water
Energy1930 kJHeight² × period²Heavy
Water74° · air 66° · UV 3

High confidence.

Best windowAll day (11am–7pm)

Against what Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 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 11amS-Turns, Jennette's Pier and 3 more

Compare on the map

The break

The seafloorSand over the Diamond Shoals feeder bars, with old groins to the north

Loading the seafloor under Cape Hatteras Lighthouse…

Open the seafloor on the map

Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.

Bottomsand over the Diamond Shoals feeder bars, with old groins to the north
DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2019), 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 is neutral here, where it trips

Read from the current hour (today at 11am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.

One swell, uncrossed
13.6 ft at 11s from the ENE 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 is neutral here
Kr 0.90 · 92% 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
0.3 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 16 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
35 mph from the NNE, against a shoreline facing 103°.
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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse worksThe cape turns the coast ninety degrees here and Diamond Shoals…

The cape turns the coast ninety degrees here and Diamond Shoals runs twenty kilometres out to sea, focusing swell onto a set of bars that produce the most reliably hollow wave on the American Atlantic. The Lighthouse takes east and southeast swell; the north side of the point handles a northeast. This is the East Coast's benchmark.

Best tidemid to low
Best swellE–SE groundswell
Suitsadvanced

1 swell train in the current hour · How this is calculated

Common questions4 questions about Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

What is the best tide for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse works best on mid to 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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?: E–SE groundswell suits Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse good for beginners?: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse suits advanced surfers, over sand over the Diamond Shoals feeder bars, with old groins to the north. 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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?: sand over the Diamond Shoals feeder bars, with old groins to the north. 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 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.