Cowells Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Santa Cruz, USA)

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

Cowells Cove Surf Guide

Cowells Cove in Santa Cruz is a sheltered point break that has fairly consistent surf. Winter is the best time of year for surfing here. Offshore winds are from the northeast. Groundswells are more common than windswells and the best swell direction is from the west. Surfable at all stages of the tide. It's often crowded here. Beware of sharks, rips and rocks.

Cowells Cove Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Point	1	fairly consistent	14.2°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Cowells Cove:

The best conditions reported for surf at Cowells Cove occur when a South-southwest swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the West-northwest.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

januaryBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Cowells Cove 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 1% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 99% 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

99%

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

Explore Cowells Cove Location Map

Interactive Cowells Cove 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 Cowells Cove is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) in USA, 46 km (29 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Cowells Cove is Moffett Federal Afld (Mountain View) Airport (NUQ), also in USA, 51 km (32 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.

Cowells Cove Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 23:44 Local Time

m, °C	Tue		Wed
ft, °F	8PM	11PM	2AM	5AM
Wave (m)	SSW	SSW	SSW	SW
Period (s)	15	15	15	15
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	off	cross- off	cross	glass

What does Cowells Cove look like?

Latest photos from Cowells Cove. Upload your own or view all photos on the gallery page.

Credit: Andie Credit: Daniel Credit: Daniel Credit: Daniel

Tides at Cowells Cove

Current tide and informaton

For Santa Cruz, California, 1 km from Cowells Cove.

Next High Water: 12:44am | 1.46m

Next Low Water: 08:07am | -0.04m

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

Cowells Cove Sea Temperature

The water temperature at Cowells Cove is rather cool (14.2 °C) and the air temperature will feel similar. 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.