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Surf Break: Zmudowski State Beach

Zmudowski State Beach in Monterey is an exposed beach break that has reliable surf and can work at any time of the year. The best wind direction is from the east. Groundswells more frequent than windswells and the optimum swell angle is from the west. Waves at the beach break both left and right. The quality of the surf isn't affected by the tide. Even when there are waves, it's not likley to be crowded. Beware of rips and sharks.

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Overall Zmudowski 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 graph describes the range of swells directed at Zmudowski State Beach through an av... (show all text)

The rose diagram shows how commonly and how strongly the wind blows from different dire... (show all text)

Also see Zmudowski State Beach surf quality by season and Zmudowski State Beach surf quality by month.

Select Zmudowski 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 Zmudowski State Beach

Other Nearby Surf Breaks closest to Zmudowski State Beach:   (click location name for more details)
Closest break	Moss Landing	1 mi
Second closest break	Salinas River State Beach	1 mi
Third closest break	Marina State Beach	5 mi
Fourth closest break	Sunset State Beach	6 mi
Fifth closest break	Manresa State Beach	9 mi
Wave buoys nearest to Zmudowski State Beach:
Closest wave buoy	Monterey Buoy	34 mi
Second closest wave buoy	Half Moon Bay Buoy	70 mi
Third closest wave buoy	Cape San Martin Buoy	75 mi
Fourth closest wave buoy	San Francisco Buoy	86 mi
Fifth closest wave buoy	Bodega Bay Buoy	128 mi
Tide stations nearest to Zmudowski State Beach:
Closest tide station	Elkhorn Yacht Club, Elkhorn Slough, California	1 mi
Second closest tide station	Elkhorn Yacht Club, Elkhorn Slough, California (sub	1 mi
Third closest tide station	Elkhorn Yacht Club, California	1 mi
Fourth closest tide station	Elkhorn Slough, Highway 1 Bridge, Monterey Bay, Cal	1 mi
Fifth closest tide station	General Fish Company Pier, Moss Landing, California	1 mi
Ski Resorts closest to Zmudowski 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)	150 mi
Fifth closest ski area	Kirkwood (United States)	160 mi
Town and city forecasts close to Zmudowski State Beach:
Closest city location	Elkhorn (United States)	3 mi
Second closest city location	Castroville (United States)	4 mi
Third closest city location	Las Lomas (United States)	4 mi
Fourth closest city location	Neponset (United States)	6 mi
Fifth closest city location	Pajaro (United States)	6 mi

• The closest passenger airport to Zmudowski State Beach is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) in USA, 61 km (38 miles) away (directly).
• The second nearest airport to Zmudowski State Beach is Moffett Federal Afld (Mountain View) Airport (NUQ), also in USA, 70 km (43 miles) away.
• Third is San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in USA, 102 km (63 miles) away.
• Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK) in USA is 107 km (66 miles) away.
• Modesto City Co Harry Sham Airport (MOD), also in USA is the fifth nearest airport to Zmudowski State Beach and is 117 km (73 miles) away.