Campus Point (Isla Vista) Surf Report & Forecast
The long right point at the edge of campus.
Current conditions
shorebreak only
Very Poor
Modelled on real 10-foot bathymetry. These figures cover size, shape and wind. Whether the wave is makeable comes from the simulation.
- Swell
- 0.8 ft at 5s from the SW
- Wind
- 8 mph WNW offshore
- Tide
- 5.7 ft
- Break depth
- 0 ft
- Power
- 0 kW/m
- Water
- 71°F · trunks
Updated Aug 25, 6:42 PM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Campus Point (Isla Vista) 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 Campus Point (Isla Vista), solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Campus Point (Isla Vista) looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
Two swells at once
0.8 ft at 5s from the SW carrying 63% of the energy, plus 0.6 ft at 15s from the S (37%).
The shorter, steeper train is carrying most of the energy here, so expect a choppier, less organised lineup than the longest period in the list would suggest on its own. Why period matters more than height →
The seafloor is neutral here
Kr 0.94 · 18% 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 →
The tide has drowned the bank
5.7 ft of tide over it.
There's now too much water above the bank for the swell to trip on it, so the waves roll straight over unbroken and only the shorebreak works. This is the case a size-only rating cannot see. the swell is still out there, the spot just isn't using it. How the tide moves the break →
Wind is offshore
8 mph from the WNW, against a shoreline facing 149°.
Blowing from the land into the face, holding the wave up as it stands. That is what grooms it and gives you the clean, hollow version of this spot.
Campus Point (Isla Vista) surf forecast, next 6 days
Holding — 0–1.6 ft, no notable swell in the window
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 ft | 6am to 7pmFair-Good | 0.7 ft at 15s S | 5 mph cross-shore | Low -0.3 ft 3amHigh 4.0 ft 10amLow 2.0 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm | |
| 1 ft | 11am to 4pmFair-Good | 0.7 ft at 14s S | 9 mph cross-shore | Low -0.3 ft 4amHigh 4.2 ft 10amLow 1.7 ft 3pmHigh 5.7 ft 9pm | |
| 1 ft | 2pm to 7pmGood | 0.6 ft at 13s S | 13 mph offshore | Low -0.2 ft 4amHigh 4.5 ft 10amLow 1.4 ft 4pmHigh 5.4 ft 10pm | |
| 1 ft | 8amGood | 0.6 ft at 18s S | 9 mph offshore | Low 0.1 ft 4amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 1.2 ft 4pmHigh 5.1 ft 10pm | |
| 1 ft | 2pm to 5pmGood | 0.6 ft at 15s S | 14 mph cross-shore | Low 0.5 ft 5amHigh 5.0 ft 11amLow 1.0 ft 5pmHigh 4.5 ft 11pm | |
| 1 ft | 8am to 2pmGood | 0.6 ft at 14s S | 7 mph offshore | Low 0.9 ft 5amHigh 5.2 ft 12pmLow 0.9 ft 6pm |
Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.
How Campus Point (Isla Vista) works
A reef point wrapping around the UCSB bluff that turns a west swell into a long, workable right — the campus wave, and one of the better points in the Santa Barbara Channel.
- Bottom
- reef point below the UCSB bluff
- Best tide
- mid to high
- Best swell
- W–NW groundswell
- Suits
- intermediate
Common questions about Campus Point (Isla Vista)
- What is the best tide for Campus Point (Isla Vista)?
- Campus Point (Isla Vista) works best on mid to high 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 Campus Point (Isla Vista)?
- W–NW groundswell suits Campus Point (Isla Vista) 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 Campus Point (Isla Vista) good for beginners?
- Campus Point (Isla Vista) suits intermediate surfers, over reef point below the UCSB bluff. 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 Campus Point (Isla Vista)?
- reef point below the UCSB bluff. 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 Campus Point (Isla Vista) on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Devereux (Coal Oil Point) surf report · shorebreak only
- Sandspit surf report · shorebreak only
- Hammonds Reef surf report · 2 ft
- Carpinteria (Tar Pits) surf report · shorebreak only
- Rincon surf report · 2 ft