Moonlight Beach Surf Report & Forecast
Encinitas' town beach break.
Current conditions
3 ftmax ~4 ft
Fair-Good · plunging
Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.
- Swell
- 1.6 ft at 17s from the WSW
- Wind
- 1 mph WNW onshore
- Tide
- 5.7 ft
- Break depth
- 5 ft
- Power
- 2 kW/m
- Water
- 78°F · trunks
Updated Aug 25, 6:42 PM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Moonlight 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 Moonlight Beach, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Moonlight Beach looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.6 ft at 17s from the WSW carrying 85% of the energy, plus 0.7 ft at 6s from the W (15%).
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 is neutral here
Kr 0.98 · 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
5.7 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
1 mph from the WNW, against a shoreline facing 256°.
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 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 →
Moonlight Beach surf forecast, next 6 days
Building — ~3.8 ft long-period groundswell from the WSW filling in Sun morning (+4.4 d, medium confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 ft | 6am to 8amGood | 1.7 ft at 17s WSW | 1 mph onshore | Low -0.4 ft 3amHigh 4.1 ft 9amLow 1.7 ft 2pmHigh 5.8 ft 8pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 6am to 7amGood | 1.9 ft at 14s WSW | 3 mph offshore | Low -0.4 ft 3amHigh 4.3 ft 9amLow 1.5 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm | |
| 2-4 ft | 6am to 7amGood | 2.1 ft at 13s SW | 2 mph offshore | Low -0.3 ft 4amHigh 4.6 ft 10amLow 1.2 ft 3pmHigh 5.6 ft 9pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8amFair-Good | 1.8 ft at 18s WSW | 3 mph onshore | Low -0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.8 ft 10amLow 1.0 ft 4pmHigh 5.2 ft 10pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8amFair-Good | 2.0 ft at 15s WSW | 6 mph onshore | Low 0.3 ft 4amHigh 5.1 ft 11amLow 0.9 ft 5pmHigh 4.6 ft 11pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 8amFair-Good | 1.6 ft at 14s WSW | 5 mph onshore | Low 0.8 ft 5amHigh 5.2 ft 11amLow 0.8 ft 6pmHigh 4.0 ft 11pm |
Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.
How Moonlight Beach works
The sandy pocket in the middle of Encinitas' reef stretch — forgiving peaks, lifeguards, and the town's default learn-to-surf beach.
- Bottom
- sand between reef fingers
- Best tide
- mid
- Best swell
- W–NW or SW
- Suits
- beginner-intermediate
Common questions about Moonlight Beach
- What is the best tide for Moonlight Beach?
- Moonlight Beach works best on 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 Moonlight Beach?
- W–NW or SW suits Moonlight 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 Moonlight Beach good for beginners?
- Moonlight Beach suits beginner-intermediate surfers, over sand between reef fingers. 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 Moonlight Beach?
- sand between reef fingers. 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 Moonlight Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Beacons surf report · 2-3 ft
- Swamis surf report · 2-3 ft
- Grandview surf report · 2-3 ft
- Cardiff Reef surf report · 2-3 ft
- Ponto (South Carlsbad) surf report · 3 ft