Scripps Pier Surf Report & Forecast
Beach break beside the research pier.
Current conditions
shorebreak only
Very Poor
Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.
- Swell
- 0.7 ft at 5s from the WNW
- Wind
- 1 mph NNW onshore
- Tide
- 5.7 ft
- Break depth
- 0 ft
- Power
- 0 kW/m
- Water
- 78°F · trunks
Updated Aug 25, 6:42 PM PDT · 1 swell train · how this is calculated
How Scripps Pier 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 Scripps Pier, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Scripps Pier looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
One swell, uncrossed
0.7 ft at 5s from the WNW 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 · 22% 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 →
The tide has drowned the bank
5.7 ft of tide over it.
There's now too much water above the bank for the swell to trip on it, so the waves roll straight over unbroken and only the shorebreak works. This is the case a size-only rating cannot see. the swell is still out there, the spot just isn't using it. How the tide moves the break →
Barely any wind
1 mph from the NNW, against a shoreline facing 289°.
Too light to shape the face either way. At this speed the wave's own texture wins, whatever the direction.
Scripps Pier surf forecast, next 6 days
Holding — 0–2.2 ft, no notable swell in the window
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ft | 6am to 6pmFair | 0.8 ft at 5s W | 1 mph onshore | Low -0.4 ft 3amHigh 4.1 ft 9amLow 1.7 ft 2pmHigh 5.8 ft 8pm | |
| 1 ft | 6am to 8amPoor-Fair | 0.6 ft at 5s W | 3 mph cross-shore | Low -0.4 ft 3amHigh 4.3 ft 9amLow 1.5 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm | |
| 1-2 ft | 6am to 7amFair | 0.7 ft at 8s WNW | 2 mph offshore | Low -0.3 ft 4amHigh 4.6 ft 10amLow 1.2 ft 3pmHigh 5.6 ft 9pm | |
| 1-2 ft | 8am to 5pmPoor-Fair | 1.2 ft at 6s WNW | 3 mph onshore | Low -0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.8 ft 10amLow 1.0 ft 4pmHigh 5.2 ft 10pm | |
| 2 ft | 8am to 5pmPoor-Fair | 1.7 ft at 7s WNW | 6 mph onshore | Low 0.3 ft 4amHigh 5.1 ft 11amLow 0.9 ft 5pmHigh 4.6 ft 11pm | |
| 1-2 ft | 8amPoor-Fair | 1.5 ft at 7s WNW | 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 Scripps Pier works
Sandbars either side of the Scripps pier, fed by the same canyon system that makes Black's work up the beach. Softer than Black's and far less of a walk.
- Bottom
- sand, over the head of Scripps Canyon
- Best tide
- low to mid
- Best swell
- W–NW
- Suits
- intermediate
Common questions about Scripps Pier
- What is the best tide for Scripps Pier?
- Scripps Pier 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 Scripps Pier?
- W–NW suits Scripps Pier 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 Scripps Pier good for beginners?
- Scripps Pier suits intermediate surfers, over sand, over the head of Scripps 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 Scripps Pier?
- sand, over the head of Scripps 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 Scripps Pier on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- La Jolla Shores surf report · shorebreak only
- Boomer Beach (La Jolla Cove) surf report · 2-3 ft
- Black's Beach surf report · 2 ft
- Windansea surf report · 2-3 ft
- Bird Rock surf report · 2-3 ft