Sunset State Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2am
3 ft · sets to 4
GoodBest today 7–11am
Nothing is clearly limiting, but the swell is near, not in, its window and it is modest in size.
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
- Swell2.0 ft · 13 s · WSWMakes the wave: 84% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.9 ft · 6 s · WSecondary: 16% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind5 mph from the ENEOffshore to a shoreline facing 243°Light
- Tide1.7 ft, risingNext high 4.0 ft at 7:17am · NAVD88, NOAA 9413450 observed
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 5 ft of water
- Energy68 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water67° · air 62° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best window7–11am
Against what Sunset State Beach 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 2amManresa State Beach, Rio Del Mar and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand (seasonal bars)
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand (seasonal bars)
- 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 thisTwo swells at once, the seafloor focuses it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 2am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
2.0 ft at 13s from the WSW carrying 84% of the energy, plus 0.9 ft at 6s from the W (16%).
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 focuses it
Kr 1.05 · 92% of modelled rays break.
Contours underneath are bending wave energy together into a band. That concentration is the peak, and it's why this spot can be noticeably bigger than its neighbours on the same swell. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
1.7 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
5 mph from the ENE, against a shoreline facing 243°.
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 2 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.
How Sunset State Beach worksThe quiet end of the north shore
The quiet end of the north shore — dunes, no crowd, and peaks that reward whoever bothers to walk. Same sandbar lottery as Manresa.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellS–SW groundswell
- Suitsintermediate
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Sunset State Beach
- What is the best tide for Sunset State Beach?
- Sunset State Beach 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 Sunset State Beach?
- S–SW groundswell suits Sunset State Beach 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 Sunset State Beach good for beginners?
- Sunset State Beach suits intermediate surfers, over sand. 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 Sunset State Beach?
- sand (seasonal bars). 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 Sunset State Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.