Sandspit Surf Report & Forecast
A short, square barrel off the harbour wall — rare and heavy.
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
- 0.7 ft at 12s from the SSE
- Wind
- 7 mph N offshore
- Tide
- 5.7 ft
- Break depth
- 0 ft
- Power
- 1 kW/m
- Water
- 71°F · trunks
Updated Aug 25, 6:42 PM PDT · 3 swell trains · how this is calculated
How Sandspit 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 Sandspit, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Sandspit looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
3 swells at once
0.7 ft at 12s from the SSE carrying 57% of the energy, plus 0.5 ft at 6s from the SW (23%), plus 0.3 ft at 17s from the S (12%).
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 · 37% 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
7 mph from the N, against a shoreline facing 142°.
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.
Sandspit surf forecast, next 6 days
Holding — 0–2.1 ft, no notable swell in the window
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 ft | 11am to 7pmFair-Good | 1.0 ft at 12s SSE | 7 mph cross-shore | Low -0.3 ft 3amHigh 4.0 ft 10amLow 2.0 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm | |
| 1 ft | 6am to 7amFair-Good | 0.6 ft at 12s S | 6 mph cross-shore | Low -0.3 ft 4amHigh 4.2 ft 10amLow 1.7 ft 3pmHigh 5.7 ft 9pm | |
| 1 ft | 2pm to 4pmFair-Good | 0.4 ft at 17s S | 13 mph offshore | Low -0.2 ft 4amHigh 4.5 ft 10amLow 1.4 ft 4pmHigh 5.4 ft 10pm | |
| 1 ft | 2pm to 5pmFair-Good | 0.5 ft at 17s S | 9 mph cross-shore | Low 0.1 ft 4amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 1.2 ft 4pmHigh 5.1 ft 10pm | |
| 1-2 ft | 5pmGood | 0.9 ft at 13s SSE | 10 mph cross-shore | Low 0.5 ft 5amHigh 5.0 ft 11amLow 1.0 ft 5pmHigh 4.5 ft 11pm | |
| 1-2 ft | 8am to 2pmFair-Good | 0.9 ft at 12s SSE | 3 mph cross-shore | 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 Sandspit works
Sand stacked against the Santa Barbara harbour breakwater makes a short, square, genuinely heavy right that breaks only on a big south. A handful of days a year, and a crowd every one of them.
- Bottom
- sand against the harbour breakwater
- Best tide
- low to mid
- Best swell
- big SW–S groundswell
- Suits
- expert
Common questions about Sandspit
- What is the best tide for Sandspit?
- Sandspit 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 Sandspit?
- big SW–S groundswell suits Sandspit 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 Sandspit good for beginners?
- Sandspit suits expert surfers, over sand against the harbour breakwater. 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 Sandspit?
- sand against the harbour breakwater. 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 Sandspit on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Hammonds Reef surf report · 2 ft
- Campus Point (Isla Vista) surf report · shorebreak only
- Carpinteria (Tar Pits) surf report · shorebreak only
- Devereux (Coal Oil Point) surf report · shorebreak only
- Rincon surf report · 2 ft