Ross's Cove Surf Report & Forecast
Sheltered reef cove north of Pillar Point.
Current conditions
3 ftmax ~4 ft
Fair-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
- 1.8 ft at 15s from the WSW
- Wind
- 9 mph NW cross-shore
- Tide
- 1.8 ft
- Break depth
- 5 ft
- Power
- 4 kW/m
- Water
- 62°F · 3/2 fullsuit
Updated Aug 26, 12:40 AM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Ross's Cove 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 Ross's Cove, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Ross's Cove looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.8 ft at 15s from the WSW carrying 53% of the energy, plus 1.7 ft at 5s from the WNW (47%).
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 0.83 · 61% 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 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
9 mph from the NW, against a shoreline facing 236°.
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 →
Ross's Cove surf forecast, next seven days
Building — ~3.8 ft short-period windswell from the WNW filling in Thu evening (+1.9 d, high confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 ft | 4pm to 5pmFair-Good | 1.8 ft at 15s WSW | 13 mph cross-shore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 4pmHigh 6.0 ft 10pm | |
| 2-4 ft | 11am to 12pmFair-Good | 1.8 ft at 12s WSW | 11 mph cross-shore | Low 0.1 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 11amLow 2.2 ft 4pmHigh 5.9 ft 10pm | |
| 2-3 ft | 12pm to 1pmFair-Good | 2.1 ft at 10s WSW | 9 mph cross-shore | Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 5.1 ft 11amLow 1.9 ft 5pmHigh 5.7 ft 11pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8amFair | 1.8 ft at 18s SW | 11 mph cross-shore | Low 0.5 ft 6amHigh 5.3 ft 12pmLow 1.6 ft 6pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 2pm to 5pmFair | 2.0 ft at 15s SW | 9 mph onshore | High 5.4 ft 12amLow 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.5 ft 12pmLow 1.3 ft 6pm | |
| 3 ft | 8am to 2pmFair | 1.7 ft at 14s SW | 9 mph onshore | High 5.0 ft 1amLow 1.4 ft 6amHigh 5.7 ft 1pmLow 1.0 ft 7pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 2pmFair-Good | 2.1 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 Ross's Cove works
A rock-bound cove north of the Pillar Point headland that holds a serious wave on a big NW — remote, cold, and firmly in white shark country.
- Bottom
- reef in a rocky cove
- Best tide
- low to mid
- Best swell
- W–NW
- Suits
- advanced
Common questions about Ross's Cove
- What is the best tide for Ross's Cove?
- Ross's Cove 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 Ross's Cove?
- W–NW suits Ross's Cove 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 Ross's Cove good for beginners?
- Ross's Cove suits advanced surfers, over reef in a rocky cove. 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 Ross's Cove?
- reef in a rocky cove. 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 Ross's Cove on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Mavericks surf report · ~2 ft swell
- Montara State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
- Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) surf report · 3-4 ft
- Gray Whale Cove surf report · 3 ft
- Dunes Beach (Half Moon Bay) surf report · 3 ft