What is the best tide for Rincon?

Rincon works best on mid to high incoming 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 Rincon?

W–NW groundswell suits Rincon 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 Rincon good for beginners?

Rincon suits advanced surfers, over cobblestone point. 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 Rincon?

cobblestone point. 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 Rincon on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Rincon Surf Report & Forecast

The Queen of the Coast — California's best right point.

2 ftmax ~3 ft

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: 1.2 ft at 17s from the SW
Wind: 6 mph NNE offshore
Tide: 0.5 ft
Break depth: 4 ft
Power: 2 kW/m
Water: 71°F · trunks

Updated Aug 26, 12:40 AM PDT · 2 swell trains · how this is calculated

How Rincon is breaking right now

Loading Rincon…

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

Why Rincon looks like this right now

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

Two swells at once
1.2 ft at 17s from the SW carrying 59% of the energy, plus 1.0 ft at 5s from the WSW (41%).
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 · 92% 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
0.5 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 offshore
6 mph from the NNE, against a shoreline facing 200°.
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.
How the sets come
About one set every 4 min, roughly 12 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 →

Rincon surf forecast, next seven days

Holding — 0–2.5 ft, no notable swell in the window

Seven-day surf forecast for Rincon: wave height, best window, swell, wind and tide.
Day	Surf	Best window	Swell	Wind	Tide
Wed, Aug 26	2-3 ft	6am to 10amGood	1.3 ft at 15s SW	5 mph offshore	Low -0.3 ft 3amHigh 4.0 ft 10amLow 2.0 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm
Thu, Aug 27	2 ft	6am to 7amGood	1.3 ft at 13s SW	6 mph offshore	Low -0.3 ft 4amHigh 4.2 ft 10amLow 1.7 ft 3pmHigh 5.7 ft 9pm
Fri, Aug 28	1-2 ft	6am to 9amFair-Good	1.3 ft at 10s SW	5 mph offshore	Low -0.2 ft 4amHigh 4.5 ft 10amLow 1.4 ft 4pmHigh 5.4 ft 10pm
Sat, Aug 29	1-2 ft	8amFair-Good	0.7 ft at 15s SW	3 mph cross-shore	Low 0.1 ft 4amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 1.2 ft 4pmHigh 5.1 ft 10pm
Sun, Aug 30	1-2 ft	8amFair-Good	0.9 ft at 15s SW	2 mph onshore	Low 0.5 ft 5amHigh 5.0 ft 11amLow 1.0 ft 5pmHigh 4.5 ft 11pm
Mon, Aug 31	1-2 ft	8amFair-Good	1.0 ft at 14s SSW	5 mph onshore	Low 0.9 ft 5amHigh 5.2 ft 12pmLow 0.9 ft 6pm
Tue, Sep 1	2 ft	8amFair	1.1 ft at 13s SSW	3 mph onshore	High 3.9 ft 12amLow 1.5 ft 6amHigh 5.3 ft 12pmLow 0.9 ft 7pm

Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.

How Rincon works

A cobblestone point at the county line that links Indicator through the Rivermouth to the Cove — on a big winter W/NW it is one of the longest, most perfect rights in the world. Correspondingly crowded.

Bottom: cobblestone point
Best tide: mid to high incoming
Best swell: W–NW groundswell
Suits: advanced

Common questions about Rincon

What is the best tide for Rincon?: Rincon works best on mid to high incoming 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 Rincon?: W–NW groundswell suits Rincon 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 Rincon good for beginners?: Rincon suits advanced surfers, over cobblestone point. 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 Rincon?: cobblestone point. 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 Rincon on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

Nearby breaks

Carpinteria (Tar Pits) surf report · 2 ft
Hammonds Reef surf report · 2 ft
Sandspit surf report · 1-2 ft
Campus Point (Isla Vista) surf report · 1 ft
Devereux (Coal Oil Point) surf report · 1-2 ft