Capitola Rivermouth Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Santa Cruz, USA)

Forecast
- Hourly Forecast
- 16 Day Forecast
Maps
Live
Weather State
Spot Information

Capitola Rivermouth Surf Guide

Capitola Rivermouth in Santa Cruz is a sheltered beach/Jetty break that has reasonably consistent surf and can work at any time of the year. Offshore winds are from the northeast. Tends to receive distant groundswells and the ideal swell angle is from the southwest. The beach break provides left and right handers. Best around low tide. When the surf is up, it can get quite busy in the water. Surfing here means negotiating dangerous rips.

Capitola Rivermouth Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach/jetty	2	fairly consistent	14.5°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Capitola Rivermouth:

The best conditions reported for surf at Capitola Rivermouth occur when a South-southwest swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the Northeast.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

What's the best time of year to surf Capitola Rivermouth (for consistent clean waves)?

januaryBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Capitola Rivermouth with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of January. Clean surfable waves are typically found 0% of the time in January while 2% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 98% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

Surfable waves that hold up well for longer rides in prevailing cross-offshore, offshore or light wind conditions.

blown out

Surfable sized waves that are of poorer quality due to prevailing onshore, cross-onshore or windy conditions (may be preferable for kitesurfing).

too small

98%

Waves usually considered too small for good surf. Some wave-magnet breaks may still work though if conditions are right (on occasion).

Explore Capitola Rivermouth Location Map

Interactive Capitola Rivermouth surf break location map. View information about nearby surf breaks, their wave consistency and rating compared to other spots in the region. Current swell conditions from local buoys are shown along with live wind speed and direction from nearby weather stations. Click icons on the map for more detail. The closest passenger airport to Capitola Rivermouth is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) in USA, 43 km (27 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Capitola Rivermouth is Moffett Federal Afld (Mountain View) Airport (NUQ), also in USA, 50 km (31 miles) away.

Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)
Wind Speed (km/h)

Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.

Capitola Rivermouth Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 16:45 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 05
ft, °F	2PM	5PM	8PM	11PM
Wave (m)	SSW	SSW	SSW	SSW
Period (s)	15	15	15	15
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- on	cross- on	cross	cross- off

Tides at Capitola Rivermouth

Current tide and informaton

For Live Oak, 3 km from Capitola Rivermouth.

Next High Water: 12:53am | 1.93m

Next Low Water: 06:50pm | 1.39m

NEXT	IS AT (local time)	remaining
high tide
low tide

Capitola Rivermouth Sea Temperature

The Capitola Rivermouth water temperature is rather cool (14.5 °C) and the air temperature will feel about the same. A good quality spring wetsuit with optional neoprene boots should suffice. No need for wetsuit gloves.

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit and neoprene boots.