Carpinteria (Tar Pits) surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2am
2 ft · sets to 3
GoodBest today 7–11am
The swell and size hold it back.
The wave field solved for this hour on the real seafloor, playing forward. A model, not a camera.
Loads when it comes into view.The wave field solved for this hour on the real seafloor, playing forward. A model, not a camera.
This hour
The 2am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell1.0 ft · 15 s · SSWMakes the wave: 80% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.5 ft · 4 s · WSWSecondary: 20% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind3 mph from the NEOffshore to a shoreline facing 194°Light
- Tide1.3 ft, risingNext high 3.8 ft at 7:17am · NAVD88, NOAA 9411340 observed
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 3 ft of water
- Energy28 kJHeight² × period²Marginal
- Water70° · air 63° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best window7–11am
Against what Carpinteria (Tar Pits) likesWhy it is Good, not Epic
Preferred tide and swell are surfer-consensus notes for this spot, not yet reviewed against measurements. Wind is judged by the general rule (light or offshore helps). No percent match: these are plain states and reasons.
Nearby at 2amRincon, Hammonds Reef and 3 more
The break
The seafloorCobble and reef by the tar seeps
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomcobble and reef by the tar seeps
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2022), relative to NAVD88. Depth shown is below the selected hour’s tide.
- CoverageRock reef and headland shapes resolve well. Nearshore sandbars are interpolated flat in this dataset, so a beachbreak’s bar is not in the picture. A tile’s year is its publication, not the survey date.
Why it breaks like thisTwo swells at once, the seafloor is neutral here, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 2am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.0 ft at 15s from the SSW carrying 80% of the energy, plus 0.5 ft at 4s from the WSW (20%).
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 0.98 · 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
1.3 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 3 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
Barely any wind
3 mph from the NE, against a shoreline facing 194°.
Too light to shape the face either way. At this speed the wave's own texture wins, whatever the direction.
How the sets come
About one set every 3 min, roughly 10 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.
How Carpinteria (Tar Pits) worksGentle cobble-point rights by the natural tar seeps
Gentle cobble-point rights by the natural tar seeps — a far softer, far less crowded alternative to Rincon a couple of miles up the road, and a good first point break.
- Best tidemid to high
- Best swellW–NW
- Suitsbeginner-intermediate
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Carpinteria (Tar Pits)
- What is the best tide for Carpinteria (Tar Pits)?
- Carpinteria (Tar Pits) 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 Carpinteria (Tar Pits)?
- W–NW suits Carpinteria (Tar Pits) 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 Carpinteria (Tar Pits) good for beginners?
- Carpinteria (Tar Pits) suits beginner-intermediate surfers, over cobble and reef by the tar seeps. 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 Carpinteria (Tar Pits)?
- cobble and reef by the tar seeps. 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 Carpinteria (Tar Pits) on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.