Steamer Lane surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 5am
3–4 ft · sets to 5
GoodBest today All day (7am–7pm)
The swell is the limiting factor.
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 5am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell2.9 ft · 15 s · SSWMakes the wave: 99% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind9 mph from the NWOffshore to a shoreline facing 141°Moderate
- Tide3.2 ft, risingNext high 4.1 ft at 7:44am · NAVD88, NOAA 9413450 observed
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 6 ft of water
- Energy176 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water65° · air 55° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (7am–7pm)
Against what Steamer Lane 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 5amStockton Avenue, Cowell's and 3 more
The break
The seafloorRock reef / headland (Miocene mudstone — does not move)
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomrock reef / headland (Miocene mudstone — does not move)
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2023), 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 thisOne swell, uncrossed, the seafloor spreads it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 5am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
One swell, uncrossed
2.9 ft at 15s 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 0.50 · 78% 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
3.2 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 6 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
9 mph from the NW, against a shoreline facing 141°.
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 1 min, roughly 5 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 Steamer Lane worksThe most-watched cam in NorCal
The most-watched cam in NorCal. Multiple reefs off the point — First, Second, Third — fed by swell that bends around the headland.
- Best tidemedium
- Best swellW–NW groundswell (wraps around the point)
- Suitsadvanced
1 swell train in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Steamer Lane
- What is the best tide for Steamer Lane?
- Steamer Lane works best on medium 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 Steamer Lane?
- W–NW groundswell (wraps around the point) suits Steamer Lane 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 Steamer Lane good for beginners?
- Steamer Lane suits advanced surfers, over rock reef / headland. 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 Steamer Lane?
- rock reef / headland (Miocene mudstone — does not move). 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 Steamer Lane on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.