Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove Surf Report & Forecast
The north end — the friendliest corner of Ocean Beach.
Current conditions
3 ftmax ~4 ft
Poor-Fair · plunging
Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.
- Swell
- 1.8 ft at 15s from the WNW
- Wind
- 13 mph W onshore
- Tide
- 5.2 ft
- Break depth
- 5 ft
- Power
- 3 kW/m
- Water
- 59°F · 3/2 fullsuit
Updated Aug 25, 9:44 PM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove 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 Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.8 ft at 15s from the WNW carrying 80% of the energy, plus 0.9 ft at 4s from the WNW (19%).
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 spreads it
Kr 0.56 · 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. Why two breaks a mile apart differ →
Where it trips
5.2 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 →
Wind is onshore
13 mph from the W, against a shoreline facing 280°.
Pushing into the back of the wave from the sea, making it crumble and break early instead of standing up. Note this is measured against the angle THIS break faces, which is why one spot can be blown out while the one round the headland is fine.
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. Why period matters more than height →
Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove surf forecast, next seven days
Building — ~4.4 ft long-period groundswell from the WNW filling in Sun morning (+4.2 d, medium confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 ft | 7am to 11amFair | 1.8 ft at 15s WNW | 8 mph onshore | Low -0.0 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 12pmLow 2.6 ft 5pmHigh 6.1 ft 11pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 6am to 9amFair | 1.8 ft at 15s WNW | 9 mph onshore | Low -0.0 ft 5amHigh 5.1 ft 12pmLow 2.3 ft 5pmHigh 6.0 ft 11pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 6am to 7pmPoor-Fair | 1.9 ft at 11s WNW | 13 mph onshore | Low 0.1 ft 6amHigh 5.3 ft 12pmLow 1.9 ft 6pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8am to 5pmPoor-Fair | 2.5 ft at 18s WNW | 14 mph onshore | High 5.8 ft 12amLow 0.4 ft 6amHigh 5.5 ft 1pmLow 1.6 ft 6pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8am to 5pmPoor-Fair | 2.5 ft at 15s WNW | 17 mph onshore | High 5.5 ft 1amLow 0.8 ft 7amHigh 5.7 ft 1pmLow 1.2 ft 7pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 11am to 5pmPoor-Fair | 2.1 ft at 14s WNW | 17 mph onshore | High 5.2 ft 2amLow 1.3 ft 7amHigh 5.9 ft 2pmLow 1.0 ft 8pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 11amPoor-Fair | 2.3 ft at 15s WNW | 13 mph onshore | High 4.8 ft 2amLow 1.9 ft 8amHigh 6.1 ft 2pmLow 0.7 ft 9pm |
Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.
How Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove works
Tucked under the Cliff House where the NW swell wraps and the paddle is shortest — OB with the edges sanded off.
- Bottom
- sand (seasonal bars), tucked under the cliff
- Best tide
- medium
- Best swell
- W–NW
- Suits
- beginner-intermediate
Common questions about Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove
- What is the best tide for Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove?
- Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove works best on medium 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 Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove?
- W–NW suits Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove 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 Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove good for beginners?
- Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove suits beginner-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 Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove?
- sand (seasonal bars), tucked under the cliff. 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 Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Ocean Beach surf report · 3-4 ft
- Fort Point surf report · 2-3 ft
- Ocean Beach — Sloat surf report · 2-3 ft
- Rodeo Beach surf report · 4-5 ft
- Tennessee Cove surf report · 4-5 ft