Drakes Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Marin County, USA)

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Drakes Bay Surf Guide

Drakes Bay in Marin County is an exposed sandbar break that only works once in a while. Spring and Summer provide the best conditions. The best wind direction is from the north with some shelter here from west northwest winds. Tends to receive distant groundswells and the best swell direction is from the south southwest. It very rarely gets crowded here. Beware of - Sharks.

Drakes Bay Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Sandbar	2	inconsistent	13.2°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Drakes Bay:

The best conditions reported for surf at Drakes Bay occur when a South-southwest swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the North.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

augustBest Season: summer

The best time of year for surfing Drakes Bay with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Summer and most often the month of August. Clean surfable waves are typically found 13% of the time in August while 12% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 75% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

13%

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

blown out

12%

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

too small

75%

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

Explore Drakes Bay Location Map

Interactive Drakes Bay 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 Drakes Bay is San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in USA, 67 km (42 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Drakes Bay is Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK), also in USA, 71 km (44 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.

Drakes Bay Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Monday, 4 May 2026, 22:27 Local Time

m, °C	Mon		Tue
ft, °F	8PM	11PM	2AM	5AM
Wave (m)	SSW	SW	SW	SW
Period (s)	16	16	16	16
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross- off	cross	cross

Tides at Drakes Bay

Current tide and informaton

For Inverness, Tomales Bay, California, 11 km from Drakes Bay.

Next High Water: 01:53am | 1.57m

Next Low Water: 09:40am | -0.12m

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

Drakes Bay Sea Temperature

The Drakes Bay water temperature is rather cool (13.2 °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.

Current Temp*: 13.2°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

View Sea Temp Map

Swell History at Drakes Bay

Surf stats for Drakes Bay, see the swell variation by month or season on the history page here.

Average Swell

View Swell Statistics

Wind History at Drakes Bay

Wind stats for Drakes Bay, see the variation in direction and stength by month or season on the history page here.

Average Wind

View Wind Statistics

Drakes Bay Reviews:

Interactive Porthcawl Point location map. View nearby buoy information, live wind conditions and surrounding roads, paths and locations to help find new breaks. Click the buoys or wind icon to view more information.

Ratings

Based on 1 vote.

Overall:2.0
Quality on a good day:2.0
Consistency of Surf:2.0
Difficulty Level:3.0
Crowds:4.0
...

See all 18 ratings

Review

Impartial reviews submitted by Surf-Forecast users.

Jay from United States

“It's very, very sharky. It's not an ideal spot if you're looking for good, consistent waves. It takes 40 minutes to walk to the Estero mouth, and 90% of the time, it's not surf-able. Save yourself time and effort.”

Other Nearby Breaks Closest To:

Discover surf breaks near Drakes Bay. Click below to view there surf guides.