Ocean Beach Surf Report & Forecast
Exposed beach break — the whole Pacific swell window, raw.
Current conditions
3-4 ftmax ~5 ft
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
- 2.7 ft at 15s from the WSW
- Wind
- 9 mph W onshore
- Tide
- 1.7 ft
- Break depth
- 7 ft
- Power
- 6 kW/m
- Water
- 58°F · 3/2 fullsuit
Updated Aug 26, 3:44 AM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Ocean 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 Ocean Beach, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Ocean Beach looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
2.7 ft at 15s from the WSW carrying 83% of the energy, plus 0.9 ft at 4s from the WNW (8%).
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 · 88% 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
1.7 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 7 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
9 mph from the W, against a shoreline facing 264°.
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 3 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 →
Ocean Beach surf forecast, next seven days
Building — ~4.6 ft long-period groundswell from the WSW filling in Sun morning (+3.9 d, medium confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-4 ft | 9am to 11amFair | 2.8 ft at 15s WSW | 7 mph onshore | Low -0.0 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 12pmLow 2.6 ft 5pmHigh 6.1 ft 11pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 6am to 10amFair | 3.0 ft at 14s WSW | 8 mph onshore | Low -0.0 ft 5amHigh 5.1 ft 12pmLow 2.3 ft 5pmHigh 6.0 ft 11pm | |
| 3-5 ft | 6am to 7pmPoor-Fair | 3.1 ft at 13s WSW | 11 mph onshore | Low 0.1 ft 6amHigh 5.3 ft 12pmLow 1.9 ft 6pm | |
| 4-5 ft | 8am to 5pmPoor-Fair | 3.1 ft at 18s WSW | 15 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 | 3.1 ft at 15s WSW | 11 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 | 2.6 ft at 14s WSW | 15 mph onshore | High 5.2 ft 2amLow 1.3 ft 7amHigh 5.9 ft 2pmLow 1.0 ft 8pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 11amPoor-Fair | 2.6 ft at 13s WSW | 10 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 works
The Pacific window wide open and unforgiving. Heavy paddle, shifting peaks; the exact spot Surfline's tide-blind rating gets wrong.
- Bottom
- sand (seasonal bars)
- Best tide
- medium — the tide is the whole story here (drowns the bars at high)
- Best swell
- W–NW groundswell
- Suits
- intermediate-advanced
Common questions about Ocean Beach
- What is the best tide for Ocean Beach?
- Ocean Beach works best on medium — the tide is the whole story here (drowns the bars at high) 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?
- W–NW groundswell suits Ocean 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 Ocean Beach good for beginners?
- Ocean Beach suits intermediate-advanced 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?
- 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 Ocean Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Ocean Beach — Kelly's Cove surf report · 3 ft
- Ocean Beach — Sloat surf report · 2-3 ft
- Fort Point surf report · 2-3 ft
- Rodeo Beach surf report · 4-5 ft
- Tennessee Cove surf report · 4-5 ft