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Surf Break: Salinas River State Beach

Salinas River State Beach in Monterey is an exposed beach break that usually has waves. Winter is the favoured time of year for surfing here. The best wind direction is from the east southeast. Most of the surf here comes from groundswells and the ideal swell angle is from the west. The beach break provides left and right handers. Best around high tide when the tide is rising. It's sometimes crowded here. Beware of rips, locals and sharks.

Secret spot? We can hide it!

Overall Salinas River State 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 figure shows the variation of swells directed at Salinas River State Beach over a n... (show all text)

This chart illustrates how frequently and how strongly the wind blows from different di... (show all text)

Also see Salinas River State Beach surf quality by season and Salinas River State Beach surf quality by month.

Select Salinas River State Beach Location Map Detail:

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Use this relief map to navigate to California - Monterey surf breaks and tide stations that are in the area of Salinas River State Beach

Other Nearby Surf Breaks closest to Salinas River State Beach:   (click location name for more details)
Closest break	Moss Landing	1 mi
Second closest break	Zmudowski State Beach	1 mi
Third closest break	Marina State Beach	4 mi
Fourth closest break	Marina 1	7 mi
Fifth closest break	Sunset State Beach	7 mi
Wave buoys nearest to Salinas River State Beach:
Closest wave buoy	Monterey Buoy	34 mi
Second closest wave buoy	Half Moon Bay Buoy	71 mi
Third closest wave buoy	Cape San Martin Buoy	73 mi
Fourth closest wave buoy	San Francisco Buoy	88 mi
Fifth closest wave buoy	Bodega Bay Buoy	129 mi
Tide stations nearest to Salinas River State Beach:
Closest tide station	Moss Landing, Ocean Pier, California	0 mi
Second closest tide station	Moss Landing, California	0 mi
Third closest tide station	Moss Landing, California (2)	0 mi
Fourth closest tide station	Elkhorn Slough, Highway 1 Bridge, Monterey Bay, Cal	1 mi
Fifth closest tide station	Elkhorn Yacht Club, Elkhorn Slough, California	1 mi
Ski Resorts closest to Salinas River State Beach:
Closest ski area	Badger Pass Ski Area (United States)	131 mi
Second closest ski area	Dodge Ridge (United States)	139 mi
Third closest ski area	Sierra Summit Mountain Resort (United States)	149 mi
Fourth closest ski area	Bear Valley (United States)	151 mi
Fifth closest ski area	Kirkwood (United States)	161 mi
Town and city forecasts close to Salinas River State Beach:
Closest city location	Castroville (United States)	3 mi
Second closest city location	Elkhorn (United States)	3 mi
Third closest city location	Neponset (United States)	5 mi
Fourth closest city location	Las Lomas (United States)	6 mi
Fifth closest city location	Prunedale (United States)	7 mi

• The closest passenger airport to Salinas River State Beach is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) in USA, 63 km (39 miles) away (directly).
• The second nearest airport to Salinas River State Beach is Moffett Federal Afld (Mountain View) Airport (NUQ), also in USA, 72 km (45 miles) away.
• Third is San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in USA, 104 km (65 miles) away.
• Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK) in USA is 109 km (68 miles) away.
• Modesto City Co Harry Sham Airport (MOD), also in USA is the fifth nearest airport to Salinas River State Beach and is 118 km (73 miles) away.