Martins Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 8am
5–6 ft · sets to 7
Fair-GoodBest today All day (8am–5pm)
Nothing is clearly limiting, but wind is tolerable and the tide is only near its band.
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 8am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell4.2 ft · 13 s · WMakes the wave: 58% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 2.7 ft · 6 s · WNWSecondary: 24% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 2.2 ft · 15 s · WSWSecondary: 15% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind8 mph from the NWCross-shore to a shoreline facing 253°Moderate
- Tide4.1 ft, fallingNext low 3.3 ft at 12:31pm · NAVD88, NOAA 9414131 predicted (no live sensor)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 10 ft of water
- Energy428 kJHeight² × period²Punchy
- Water63° · air 52° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (8am–5pm)
Against what Martins Beach 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 8amTunitas Creek, San Gregorio State Beach and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand in a cliff-backed pocket
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand in a cliff-backed pocket
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2022), 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 8am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
3 swells at once
4.2 ft at 13s from the W carrying 58% of the energy, plus 2.7 ft at 6s from the WNW (24%), plus 2.2 ft at 15s from the WSW (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 0.82 · 88% 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
4.1 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 10 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
8 mph from the NW, against a shoreline facing 253°.
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 1 min, roughly 7 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 Martins Beach worksA sheltered sand cove under the bluffs south of Half Moon Bay,…
A sheltered sand cove under the bluffs south of Half Moon Bay, better known for the decade-long public-access lawsuit than for its surf — which is a decent, protected beach break.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellSW–W
- Suitsintermediate
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Martins Beach
- What is the best tide for Martins Beach?
- Martins Beach 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 Martins Beach?
- SW–W suits Martins 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 Martins Beach good for beginners?
- Martins Beach suits intermediate surfers, over sand in a cliff-backed 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 Martins Beach?
- sand in a cliff-backed 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 Martins Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.