What is the best tide for Tunitas Creek?

Tunitas Creek 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 Tunitas Creek?

W–NW suits Tunitas Creek 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 Tunitas Creek good for beginners?

Tunitas Creek suits intermediate surfers, over sand and cobble at the creek mouth. 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 Tunitas Creek?

sand and cobble at the creek mouth. 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 Tunitas Creek on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Tunitas Creek Surf Report & Forecast

Remote creek-mouth bars on the San Mateo coast.

2-3 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: 1.9 ft at 15s from the WSW
Wind: 10 mph NNW 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 Tunitas Creek is breaking right now

Loading Tunitas Creek…

Live · Tunitas Creek, solving nowOpen Tunitas Creek 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 Tunitas Creek, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.

Why Tunitas Creek looks like this right now

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

Two swells at once
1.9 ft at 15s from the WSW carrying 72% of the energy, plus 1.1 ft at 5s from the WNW (28%).
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 is neutral here
Kr 0.92 · 92% of modelled rays break.
Energy arrives roughly as it left deep water: this bottom neither concentrates the swell nor fans it out, so what the buoy sees is close to what you get. 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 NNW, against a shoreline facing 268°.
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 4 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 →

Tunitas Creek surf forecast, next seven days

Building — ~4.8 ft short-period windswell from the WNW filling in Fri morning (+2.2 d, high confidence)

Seven-day surf forecast for Tunitas Creek: wave height, best window, swell, wind and tide.
Day	Surf	Best window	Swell	Wind	Tide
Wed, Aug 26	3-4 ft	6am to 9amFair-Good	2.0 ft at 14s WSW	9 mph cross-shore	Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 4pmHigh 6.0 ft 10pm
Thu, Aug 27	3-4 ft	6am to 7pmFair	3.1 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
Fri, Aug 28	3-4 ft	5pm to 7pmFair	2.4 ft at 10s W	9 mph cross-shore	Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 5.1 ft 11amLow 1.9 ft 5pmHigh 5.7 ft 11pm
Sat, Aug 29	3-5 ft	8am to 5pmFair	3.9 ft at 7s WNW	7 mph cross-shore	Low 0.5 ft 6amHigh 5.3 ft 12pmLow 1.6 ft 6pm
Sun, Aug 30	3-5 ft	8am to 11amFair	4.1 ft at 8s WNW	8 mph onshore	High 5.4 ft 12amLow 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.5 ft 12pmLow 1.3 ft 6pm
Mon, Aug 31	2-3 ft	5pmFair	1.9 ft at 14s SW	9 mph onshore	High 5.0 ft 1amLow 1.4 ft 6amHigh 5.7 ft 1pmLow 1.0 ft 7pm
Tue, Sep 1	3-4 ft	11amFair	2.3 ft at 14s SW	7 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 Tunitas Creek works

Sand and cobble bars where Tunitas Creek reaches the sea — remote, rarely surfed, and entirely dependent on what the winter has done to the bar.

Bottom: sand and cobble at the creek mouth
Best tide: low to mid
Best swell: W–NW
Suits: intermediate

Common questions about Tunitas Creek

What is the best tide for Tunitas Creek?: Tunitas Creek 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 Tunitas Creek?: W–NW suits Tunitas Creek 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 Tunitas Creek good for beginners?: Tunitas Creek suits intermediate surfers, over sand and cobble at the creek mouth. 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 Tunitas Creek?: sand and cobble at the creek mouth. 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 Tunitas Creek on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Nearby breaks

San Gregorio State Beach surf report · 3 ft
Martins Beach surf report · 3 ft
Pomponio State Beach surf report · 3 ft
Pescadero State Beach surf report · 2-3 ft
Bean Hollow surf report · 3-4 ft