Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) Surf Report & Forecast
Mellow, wind-protected wave in the harbor lee.
Current conditions
3-4 ft
Good · plunging
Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.
- Swell
- 2.1 ft at 15s from the SSW
- Wind
- 10 mph NW cross-shore
- Tide
- 5.4 ft
- Break depth
- 5 ft
- Power
- 3 kW/m
- Water
- 62°F · 3/2 fullsuit
Updated Aug 25, 9:44 PM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Pillar Point (Surfers 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach), solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
2.1 ft at 15s from the SSW carrying 84% of the energy, plus 0.7 ft at 4s from the SW (16%).
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 →
It bends on the way in
That swell leaves deep water heading 225° and reaches the break at 211°, bent 14° on the way.
Shallow water slows a wave, so the end of the crest that reaches the shallows first swings around. That is refraction. It's why this spot can be working on a swell direction the open coast is missing, and why the swell angle on a buoy is never the angle at your break. Why two breaks a mile apart differ →
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
5.4 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 cross-shore
10 mph from the NW, against a shoreline facing 202°.
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 →
Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) surf forecast, next seven days
Building — ~5.5 ft long-period groundswell from the SSW filling in Sun morning (+4.3 d, medium confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-4 ft | 7pmGood | 2.0 ft at 15s SSW | 11 mph cross-shore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 4pmHigh 6.0 ft 10pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 10am to 2pmGood | 2.0 ft at 15s SSW | 7 mph cross-shore | Low 0.1 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 11amLow 2.2 ft 4pmHigh 5.9 ft 10pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 11am to 1pmGood | 2.4 ft at 13s SSW | 8 mph cross-shore | Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 5.1 ft 11amLow 1.9 ft 5pmHigh 5.7 ft 11pm | |
| 4-5 ft | 8am to 5pmFair-Good | 3.3 ft at 17s SW | 10 mph cross-shore | Low 0.5 ft 6amHigh 5.3 ft 12pmLow 1.6 ft 6pm | |
| 4-5 ft | 8am to 5pmFair-Good | 3.6 ft at 15s SSW | 10 mph cross-shore | High 5.4 ft 12amLow 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.5 ft 12pmLow 1.3 ft 6pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 11amGood | 2.2 ft at 14s SSW | 10 mph cross-shore | High 5.0 ft 1amLow 1.4 ft 6amHigh 5.7 ft 1pmLow 1.0 ft 7pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 11amFair-Good | 2.4 ft at 13s SW | 8 mph cross-shore | High 4.6 ft 1amLow 1.9 ft 7amHigh 5.8 ft 1pmLow 0.8 ft 8pm |
Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.
How Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) works
A mellow, wind-protected wave in the lee of Pillar Point — longboards, SUPs, learners.
- Bottom
- sand + jetty rock (NW-sheltered)
- Best tide
- mid
- Best swell
- S–SW
- Suits
- beginner
Common questions about Pillar Point (Surfers Beach)
- What is the best tide for Pillar Point (Surfers Beach)?
- Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) works best on 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach)?
- S–SW suits Pillar Point (Surfers 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) good for beginners?
- Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) suits beginner surfers, over sand + jetty rock. 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach)?
- sand + jetty rock (NW-sheltered). 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Dunes Beach (Half Moon Bay) surf report · 3-4 ft
- Mavericks surf report · ~2 ft swell
- Ross's Cove surf report · 3 ft
- Montara State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
- Gray Whale Cove surf report · 3 ft