Bean Hollow surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2am
4–6 ft · sets to 7
Fair-GoodBest today All day (7am–7pm)
Swell lines up; wind is tolerable.
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 2am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell3.8 ft · 12 s · WMakes the wave: 47% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 3.4 ft · 7 s · WNWSecondary: 39% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 2.1 ft · 17 s · SWSecondary: 15% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind6 mph from the NNWCross-shore to a shoreline facing 269°Moderate
- Tide1.8 ft, risingNext high 3.9 ft at 7:04am · NAVD88, NOAA 9414131 predicted (no live sensor)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 9 ft of water
- Energy392 kJHeight² × period²Punchy
- Water64° · air 61° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (7am–7pm)
Against what Bean Hollow 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 2amPescadero State Beach, Pomponio State Beach and 3 more
The break
The seafloorReef and cobble pocket
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomreef and cobble pocket
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2023), 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 this3 swells at once, the seafloor spreads it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 2am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
3 swells at once
3.8 ft at 12s from the W carrying 47% of the energy, plus 3.4 ft at 7s from the WNW (39%), plus 2.1 ft at 17s from the SW (15%).
The shorter, steeper train is carrying most of the energy here, so expect a choppier, less organised lineup than the longest period in the list would suggest on its own. Why period matters more than height
The seafloor spreads it
Kr 0.73 · 90% 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
1.8 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 9 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
6 mph from the NNW, against a shoreline facing 269°.
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 the sets come
About one set every 2 min, roughly 8 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.
How Bean Hollow worksA rocky pocket beach between Pescadero and Pigeon Point
A rocky pocket beach between Pescadero and Pigeon Point — small, sheltered by reef, and about as quiet as the San Mateo coast gets.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellW–NW
- Suitsintermediate
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Bean Hollow
- What is the best tide for Bean Hollow?
- Bean Hollow 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 Bean Hollow?
- W–NW suits Bean Hollow 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 Bean Hollow good for beginners?
- Bean Hollow suits intermediate surfers, over reef and cobble pocket. 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 Bean Hollow?
- reef and cobble pocket. 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 Bean Hollow on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.