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Beer Can Beach in Santa Cruz is a fairly exposed point break that has pretty consitent surf. Winter is the best time of year for surfing here. Offshore winds blow from the northwest. Tends to receive distant groundswells and the best swell direction is from the west. The beach break provides left and right handers. Best around high tide. When the surf is up, it can get quite busy in the water. Beware of sharks ,rocks and rips.

Secret spot? We can hide it!

Overall Beer Can Beach Surf Consistency and Wind Distribution

IMPORTANT: Beta version feature! Swell heights are open water values from NWW3. There is no attempt to model near-shore effects. Coastal wave heights will generally be less, especially if the break does not have unobstructed exposure to the open ocean.

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The graph illustrates the variation of swells directed at Beer Can Beach over a normal ... (show all text)

The rose diagram describes how frequently and how strongly the wind blows from differen... (show all text)

Also see Beer Can Beach surf quality by season and Beer Can Beach surf quality by month.

Select Beer Can Beach Location Map Detail:

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Use this relief map to navigate to California - Santa Cruz surf breaks and tide stations that are in the area of Beer Can Beach

Other Nearby Surf Breaks closest to Beer Can Beach:   (click location name for more details)
Closest break	Capitola Rivermouth	0 mi
Second closest break	Sharks Cove/The Hook	0 mi
Third closest break	Capitola Jetty	1 mi
Fourth closest break	Pleasure Point-Insides	1 mi
Fifth closest break	Pleasure Point-Second Peak	1 mi
Wave buoys nearest to Beer Can Beach:
Closest wave buoy	Monterey Buoy	27 mi
Second closest wave buoy	Half Moon Bay Buoy	58 mi
Third closest wave buoy	San Francisco Buoy	73 mi
Fourth closest wave buoy	Cape San Martin Buoy	85 mi
Fifth closest wave buoy	Bodega Bay Buoy	114 mi
Tide stations nearest to Beer Can Beach:
Closest tide station	Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, California	4 mi
Second closest tide station	Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, California (sub)	4 mi
Third closest tide station	Santa Cruz, California	4 mi
Fourth closest tide station	Elkhorn Slough railroad bridge, Monterery Bay, Cali	14 mi
Fifth closest tide station	Elkhorn Slough railroad bridge, California	14 mi
Ski Resorts closest to Beer Can Beach:
Closest ski area	Badger Pass Ski Area (United States)	135 mi
Second closest ski area	Dodge Ridge (United States)	139 mi
Third closest ski area	Bear Valley (United States)	149 mi
Fourth closest ski area	Sierra Summit Mountain Resort (United States)	155 mi
Fifth closest ski area	Kirkwood (United States)	158 mi
Town and city forecasts close to Beer Can Beach:
Closest city location	Capitola (United States)	1 mi
Second closest city location	Opal Cliffs (United States)	1 mi
Third closest city location	Soquel (United States)	1 mi
Fourth closest city location	Live Oak (United States)	2 mi
Fifth closest city location	Twin Lakes (United States)	2 mi

• The closest passenger airport to Beer Can Beach is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) in USA, 44 km (27 miles) away (directly).
• The second nearest airport to Beer Can Beach is Moffett Federal Afld (Mountain View) Airport (NUQ), also in USA, 50 km (31 miles) away.
• Third is San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in USA, 81 km (50 miles) away.
• Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK) in USA is 87 km (54 miles) away.
• Modesto City Co Harry Sham Airport (MOD), also in USA is the fifth nearest airport to Beer Can Beach and is 115 km (71 miles) away.