What is the best tide for Sharp Park?

Sharp Park 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 Sharp Park?

W–NW suits Sharp Park 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 Sharp Park good for beginners?

Sharp Park suits intermediate surfers, over sand behind the seawall. 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 Sharp Park?

sand behind the seawall. 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 Sharp Park on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Sharp Park Surf Report & Forecast

Exposed Pacifica sand by the promenade.

2-3 ft

Poor-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: 1.7 ft at 15s from the WSW
Wind: 10 mph W onshore
Tide: 5.4 ft
Break depth: 4 ft
Power: 3 kW/m
Water: 59°F · 3/2 fullsuit

Updated Aug 25, 9:44 PM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated

How Sharp Park is breaking right now

Loading Sharp Park…

Live · Sharp Park, solving nowOpen Sharp Park on the map

Solved in your browser from this spot’s seafloor and current swell

What the seafloor does to this wave

A cut straight out from Sharp Park, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.

Why Sharp Park looks like this right now

The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.

Two swells at once
1.7 ft at 15s from the WSW carrying 68% of the energy, plus 1.1 ft at 4s from the WNW (29%).
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 →
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 onshore
10 mph from the W, against a shoreline facing 274°.
Pushing into the back of the wave from the sea, making it crumble and break early instead of standing up. Note this is measured against the angle THIS break faces, which is why one spot can be blown out while the one round the headland is fine.
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 →

Sharp Park surf forecast, next seven days

Building — ~4.9 ft short-period windswell from the WNW filling in Sun morning (+4.2 d, medium confidence)

Seven-day surf forecast for Sharp Park: wave height, best window, swell, wind and tide.
Day	Surf	Best window	Swell	Wind	Tide
Wed, Aug 26	2-3 ft	7am to 11amFair	1.8 ft at 13s WSW	7 mph onshore	Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 4pmHigh 6.0 ft 10pm
Thu, Aug 27	2-4 ft	10am to 1pmFair	2.4 ft at 7s WNW	9 mph onshore	Low 0.1 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 11amLow 2.2 ft 4pmHigh 5.9 ft 10pm
Fri, Aug 28	3-4 ft	6am to 7pmFair	3.0 ft at 7s WNW	9 mph onshore	Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 5.1 ft 11amLow 1.9 ft 5pmHigh 5.7 ft 11pm
Sat, Aug 29	3-4 ft	8am to 5pmPoor-Fair	3.2 ft at 8s WNW	15 mph onshore	Low 0.5 ft 6amHigh 5.3 ft 12pmLow 1.6 ft 6pm
Sun, Aug 30	3-5 ft	8am to 5pmPoor-Fair	3.7 ft at 8s WNW	13 mph onshore	High 5.4 ft 12amLow 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.5 ft 12pmLow 1.3 ft 6pm
Mon, Aug 31	2-4 ft	11am to 5pmPoor-Fair	2.8 ft at 7s WNW	14 mph onshore	High 5.0 ft 1amLow 1.4 ft 6amHigh 5.7 ft 1pmLow 1.0 ft 7pm
Tue, Sep 1	2-3 ft	11amPoor-Fair	1.8 ft at 13s WSW	10 mph onshore	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 Sharp Park works

The open beach in front of the Sharp Park seawall — more exposed and less forgiving than Linda Mar down the road, and usually empty for that reason.

Bottom: sand behind the seawall
Best tide: low to mid
Best swell: W–NW
Suits: intermediate

Common questions about Sharp Park

What is the best tide for Sharp Park?: Sharp Park 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 Sharp Park?: W–NW suits Sharp Park 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 Sharp Park good for beginners?: Sharp Park suits intermediate surfers, over sand behind the seawall. 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 Sharp Park?: sand behind the seawall. 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 Sharp Park on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Nearby breaks

Rockaway Beach (Pacifica) surf report · 2-3 ft
Linda Mar (Pacifica) surf report · shorebreak only
Pedro Point surf report · shorebreak only
Gray Whale Cove surf report · 3 ft
Montara State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft