Mitchell's Cove Surf Report & Forecast
Small, sheltered westside reef — a longboard favourite.
Current conditions
3 ftmax ~4 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
- 2.0 ft at 17s from the SSW
- Wind
- 1 mph NNE offshore
- Tide
- 5.4 ft
- Break depth
- 5 ft
- Power
- 3 kW/m
- Water
- 59°F · 3/2 fullsuit
Updated Aug 25, 6:42 PM PDT · 1 swell train · how this is calculated
How Mitchell's Cove 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 Mitchell's Cove, solved on the real seafloor at this hour’s swell and tide.
Why Mitchell's Cove looks like this right now
The numbers above, and what each one is actually doing to the wave.
One swell, uncrossed
2.0 ft at 17s from the SSW and nothing significant crossing it.
A single train is the cleanest case there is: the sets arrive from one angle, so the peak should sit in the same place each time instead of wandering. Why period matters more than height →
The seafloor spreads it
Kr 0.79 · 76% 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
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 →
Barely any wind
1 mph from the NNE, against a shoreline facing 162°.
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 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 →
Mitchell's Cove surf forecast, next 6 days
Building — ~3.4 ft long-period groundswell from the SSW filling in Fri evening (+3.0 d, medium confidence)
| Day | Surf | Best window | Swell | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 ft | 12pm to 7pmGood | 2.0 ft at 15s SSW | 15 mph cross-shore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.2 ft 11amLow 2.5 ft 3pmHigh 5.8 ft 9pm | |
| 2-4 ft | 11am to 7pmGood | 2.5 ft at 14s SSW | 14 mph offshore | Low 0.0 ft 4amHigh 4.4 ft 11amLow 2.3 ft 4pmHigh 5.7 ft 10pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 2pm to 7pmGood | 2.4 ft at 18s SSW | 14 mph offshore | Low 0.2 ft 5amHigh 4.7 ft 11amLow 2.0 ft 5pmHigh 5.5 ft 11pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8am to 5pmGood | 2.5 ft at 17s SSW | 18 mph offshore | Low 0.5 ft 5amHigh 4.9 ft 12pmLow 1.7 ft 6pmHigh 5.1 ft 11pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8am to 5pmGood | 2.7 ft at 15s SSW | 17 mph cross-shore | Low 0.9 ft 6amHigh 5.2 ft 12pmLow 1.4 ft 6pm | |
| 3-4 ft | 8amGood | 2.4 ft at 14s SSW | 6 mph offshore | High 4.7 ft 12amLow 1.4 ft 6amHigh 5.4 ft 1pmLow 1.2 ft 7pm |
Daylight hours only. The best window is the run of hours the model rates highest that day.
How Mitchell's Cove works
A pocket reef on West Cliff that stays smaller and gentler than its neighbours — best on a bigger swell when the rest of the westside is out of hand.
- Bottom
- rock reef, small cove
- Best tide
- mid to high
- Best swell
- W–NW
- Suits
- intermediate
Common questions about Mitchell's Cove
- What is the best tide for Mitchell's Cove?
- Mitchell's Cove 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 Mitchell's Cove?
- W–NW suits Mitchell's Cove 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 Mitchell's Cove good for beginners?
- Mitchell's Cove suits intermediate surfers, over rock reef, small cove. 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 Mitchell's Cove?
- rock reef, small cove. 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 Mitchell's Cove on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.
Nearby breaks
- Stockton Avenue surf report · 3-4 ft
- Natural Bridges surf report · 3-4 ft
- Steamer Lane surf report · 2-3 ft
- Cowell's surf report · 2 ft
- Twin Lakes / Seabright surf report · 3 ft