Surf Forecasts:
Pescaderos surf forecast from 17 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Tuesday 21 Jul, 2AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 13s period, S swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Tuesday 21 Jul, 11AM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.4m), 12s period, SSW swell with 608 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Friday 17 Jul, 8AM (local time) - 1.5ft (0.4m), 19s period with SW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Pescaderos this week:
The surf forecast for Pescaderos over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Friday (Jul 17) at 8AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.9m and 8s period with a secondary swell of 0.4m and 19s. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Pescaderos in the next 16 days are 1.4m 12s and forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Jul 21) at 11AM. Winds are predicted to be onshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 2.0m 6s period and expected on Wednesday (Jul 22) at 8PM.
| Wave Type | Time (PDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 8AM (Fri 17th Jul) | 1.5ft (0.4m) 19s |
| Best Surf | 2AM (Tue 21st Jul) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 13s |
| Most Powerful | 11AM (Tue 21st Jul) | 4.5ft (1.4m) 12s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Pescaderos over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
G’day, I’m Rusty. Let’s break down what’s coming for Pescaderos over the next couple of weeks.
Straight up, the first few days are ugly. Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th have tiny, weak waves around 2ft to 3ft, with cross and cross-onshore winds from the SSW and SW. The water temp is about normal for this time of year. The combined swell energy is weak, sitting around 277 to 384 (low energy), and the surf is mostly marginal to poor. Don’t bother.
The first real chance shows up on Sunday morning, the 19th. Glassy conditions with a light S wind, and a clean 2ft swell from the SW at a long 17-second period. That’s proper groundswell, and the energy hits 315 (moderate). The wave shape should be better with that long period, but it’s small, so beginners might snag a few fun ones. Crowds are “sometimes” around, so it might be a bit busy.
Monday the 20th through Wednesday the 23rd is a flat patch with poor to marginal conditions, mostly cross-onshore or cross winds, and swell heights barely reaching 3ft to 4ft. The energy stays moderate, between 328 and 505. Nothing to write home about.
Thursday the 24th brings a tiny 2ft to 2ft swell from the SSW with a very long 24-second period, but the energy is only 497 (moderate) and it’s cross-shore. The wave state is poor, so skip it.
The standout sneaks in on Saturday the 25th. The morning shows a 4ft swell from the S at 15 seconds, with a light cross breeze from the SW. The combined energy hits 1090 (strong) – that’s real power. The wave height is manageable for most, but at 4ft it’s fine for intermediates and up. The wind is light cross-shore, keeping it reasonably clean. This is the best on offer, but it’s still “marginal” in the forecast, so stay tuned.
Sunday the 26th and Monday the 27th see the swell dropping back to 3ft to 3ft, with clean conditions on Monday afternoon when a cross-offshore wind from the W kicks in and the energy is 1049 (strong). That’s a good sign for clean, lined-up waves, but the size is small.
The rest of the window, from the 29th of July through the 1st of August, fades into poor, tiny surf with onshore and cross-onshore winds, and energy dropping to just 92 to 169 (weak). Not worth a wetsuit.
So, the best call is Sunday morning the 19th for the glassy clean conditions, and Saturday the 25th for the biggest swell of the run. Everything else is a long shot.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Warm (max 25°C on Sat morning, min 19°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Warm (max 31°C on Wed afternoon, min 19°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Friday 17 | Saturday 18 | Sunday 19 | Monday 20 | Tuesday 21 | Wednesday 22 | Thursday 23 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 18 | WNW 17 | WNW 17 | SW 18 | SW 18 | WNW 16 | SW 17 | SW 17 | S 12 | S 13 | S 13 | S 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 11 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | WNW 6 | W 7 | SW 26 | S 13 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 104 | 97 | 96 | 194 | 159 | 142 | 238 | 238 | 187 | 331 | 342 | 324 | 608 | 275 | 150 | 218 | 215 | 212 | 104 | 118 | 126 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | cross | glassy | cross | cross | glassy | on | cross | glassy | cross-on | cross | glassy | on | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | off | cross | cross | cross-off |
High Tide | 1:27PM1.75m | 00:38AM1.94m | 2:10PM1.80m | 1:34AM1.67m | 2:53PM1.83m | 2:44AM1.43m | 3:39PM1.86m | 4:21AM1.26m | 4:27PM1.87m | 6:26AM1.22m | 5:17PM1.89m | 8:06AM1.27m | 6:06PM1.92m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 6:48PM0.96m | 7:27AM0.35m | 7:58PM0.95m | 8:04AM0.57m | 9:18PM0.91m | 8:40AM0.77m | 10:46PM0.83m | 9:19AM0.96m | 00:07AM0.71m | 10:07AM1.11m | 1:11AM0.58m | 11:12AM1.20m | 1:59AM0.47m | ||||||||
 | |  | | | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | 5:58 | — | — | 6:00 | — | — | 6:00 | — | — | 6:01 | — | — | 6:01 | — | — | 6:01 | — | — | 6:03 | — | — |
 | — | 8:10 | — | — | 8:09 | — | — | 8:09 | — | — | 8:08 | — | — | 8:08 | — | — | 8:07 | — | — | 8:07 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 24 | 24 | 21 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 21 | 28 | 31 | 25 | 29 | 30 | 27 |
Feels °C | 26 | 25 | 23 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 27 | 29 | 23 | 27 | 28 | 22 | 28 | 30 | 26 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 8 | WNW 8 | WNW 8 | WNW 8 | W 7 | W 5 | SW 17 | SSE 12 | S 12 | S 13 | S 13 | S 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 11 | SSW 8 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | W 7 | SSE 14 | S 13 |
| kJ | 94 | 90 | 62 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 238 | 152 | 187 | 331 | 342 | 324 | 608 | 275 | 113 | 218 | 215 | 180 | 89 | 118 | 126 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 18 | WNW 17 | WNW 17 | SW 18 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | S 11 | SW 17 | SSW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SSW 16 | S 17 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | SW 7 | S 8 | SSE 14 | SSE 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 |
| kJ | 104 | 97 | 96 | 194 | 144 | 142 | 64 | 238 | 166 | 124 | 124 | 318 | 86 | 252 | 150 | 27 | 10 | 67 | 104 | 70 | 68 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 17 | WNW 16 | SW 18 | SSE 11 | WNW 15 | WNW 15 | WNW 15 | WNW 14 | WNW 14 | WNW 14 | WNW 13 | WNW 13 | S 16 | S 8 | SW 20 | SW 19 | SSW 14 | SW 26 | SSW 26 |
| kJ | 54 | 54 | 77 | 146 | 159 | 39 | 135 | 91 | 73 | 69 | 69 | 40 | 35 | 34 | 77 | 12 | 15 | 58 | 71 | 105 | 66 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | WNW 2 | WNW 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | W 3 | W 5 | W 6 | WNW 6 | WNW 7 | W 6 | WNW 6 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | 1 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 64 | 227 | 212 | 91 | 84 | 90 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 55 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 75 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 136 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Santa Barbara | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Pescaderos surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Pescaderos Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Pescaderos provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Pescaderos can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Pescaderos surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Pescaderos) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Pescaderos may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Pescaderos is 1 km (1 miles) from Isla Vista. If you plan a vacation in Santa Barbara, look for hotels and other accommodation in Isla Vista. Isla Vista has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest