Montara State Beach Surf Report & Forecast
Powerful, heavy beach break for the experienced.
Current conditions
2-3 ftmax ~4 ft
Fair · surging
Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.
- Swell
- 1.5 ft at 15s from the WSW
- Wind
- 11 mph NNW cross-shore
- Tide
- 5.4 ft
- Break depth
- 4 ft
- Power
- 2 kW/m
- Water
- 60°F · 3/2 fullsuit
Updated Aug 25, 6:42 PM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Montara State 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 Montara State Beach, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Montara State Beach looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.5 ft at 15s from the WSW carrying 68% of the energy, plus 1.1 ft at 4s from the WNW (32%).
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 0.75 · 80% 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
5.4 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 4 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
11 mph from the NNW, against a shoreline facing 285°.
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 5 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 →
Montara State Beach surf forecast, next 6 days
Building — ~5.2 ft short-period windswell from the WNW filling in Fri morning (+2.2 d, high confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 ft | 8am to 12pmFair-Good | 1.9 ft at 13s WSW | 7 mph onshore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 4pmHigh 6.0 ft 10pm | |
| 3-5 ft | 6am to 8amFair | 2.9 ft at 6s WNW | 7 mph cross-shore | Low 0.1 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 11amLow 2.2 ft 4pmHigh 5.9 ft 10pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 6am to 10amFair | 3.6 ft at 6s WNW | 8 mph onshore | Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 5.1 ft 11amLow 1.9 ft 5pmHigh 5.7 ft 11pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8am to 5pmPoor-Fair | 3.5 ft at 7s WNW | 11 mph onshore | Low 0.5 ft 6amHigh 5.3 ft 12pmLow 1.6 ft 6pm | |
| 3-5 ft | 8am to 5pmPoor-Fair | 4.0 ft at 7s WNW | 11 mph onshore | High 5.4 ft 12amLow 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.5 ft 12pmLow 1.3 ft 6pm | |
| 2-4 ft | 8am to 2pmPoor-Fair | 3.0 ft at 6s WNW | 11 mph onshore | High 5.0 ft 1amLow 1.4 ft 6amHigh 5.7 ft 1pmLow 1.0 ft 7pm |
Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.
How Montara State Beach works
Powerful and often close-out; the best peak is up the north end by the stairs. Experienced only.
- Bottom
- sand (exposed)
- Best tide
- low to mid
- Best swell
- WSW
- Suits
- intermediate-expert
Common questions about Montara State Beach
- What is the best tide for Montara State Beach?
- Montara State 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 Montara State Beach?
- WSW suits Montara State 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 Montara State Beach good for beginners?
- Montara State Beach suits intermediate-expert 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 Montara State Beach?
- sand (exposed). 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 Montara State Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Gray Whale Cove surf report · 3 ft
- Ross's Cove surf report · 3 ft
- Pedro Point surf report · shorebreak only
- Mavericks surf report · ~2 ft swell
- Linda Mar (Pacifica) surf report · shorebreak only