Surf Forecasts:
Point Arena surf forecast from 17 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Sunday 23 Aug, 8AM (local time) - 6ft (1.9m), 8s period, NW swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Saturday 22 Aug, 8PM (local time) - 8ft (2.4m), 8s period, NW swell with 746 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Monday 17 Aug, 5AM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.3m), 7s period with NW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Point Arena this week:
The surf forecast for Point Arena over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Monday (Aug 17) at 5AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.3m and 7s period. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Point Arena in the next 16 days are 2.4m 8s and forecast to arrive on Saturday (Aug 22) at 8PM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.0m 15s period and expected on Sunday (Aug 16) at 11PM.
| Wave Type | Time (PDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 5AM (Mon 17th Aug) | 4.5ft (1.3m) 7s |
| Best Surf | 8AM (Sun 23rd Aug) | 6ft (1.9m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 8PM (Sat 22nd Aug) | 8ft (2.4m) 8s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Point Arena over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s on the table for Point Arena.
Honestly, for a spot that’s usually consistent, the next couple of weeks look like a real mixed bag. We’ve got a gap right at the start – not much to get excited about until the 19th, and even that’s a bit of a head-scratcher. Water temp is 57°, which is actually pretty normal for this time of year, no big anomaly to worry about.
So, the whole window is a bit of a grind. The best of a tricky bunch looks like Wednesday the 23rd. We’ve got a 6 ft swell from the NW with a fairly long 9-second period, which should give it some decent shape. The combined wave energy is a moderate 723. The morning has a WNW breeze, so it’s gonna be a bit crossed up, but the afternoon sees the wind shift to a lighter NW and it goes glassy cross-shore. That’s your window for the week – clean, approachable waves. It’s a reef, so the longer-period swell works well here. Keep in mind, for beginners, 6 ft can feel like a lot.
After that, the last few days of the month and into the 31st just get messy again with stronger winds. The energy is still there – we see a pulse of 677 on the 31st morning, but 7 ft and a stiff 28 mph cross-off wind makes it a battle. That’s more of a tow-in or maybe even a kite day than a fun paddle session. Not much to get the heart racing, that’s for sure.
Signing off,
Rusty
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Very mild (max 14°C on Sun afternoon, min 11°C on Mon night). Winds increasing (light winds from the NW on Sun night, fresh winds from the NNW by Tue afternoon). | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Very mild (max 14°C on Wed afternoon, min 12°C on Wed night). Mainly fresh winds. | |||||||||||||||||||
Sun 16 | Monday 17 | Tuesday 18 | Wednesday 19 | Thursday 20 | Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | ||||||||||||||
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) | NW 6 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 8 | NW 8 | NW 8 | WNW 12 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 6 | NW 6 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 8 | NW 8 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 49 | 159 | 128 | 135 | 285 | 327 | 365 | 456 | 619 | 478 | 544 | 276 | 230 | 279 | 177 | 209 | 327 | 353 | 598 | 539 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | cross | cross | cross | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross-off |
High Tide | 2:30PM1.76m | 2:47AM1.43m | 3:07PM1.75m | 3:54AM1.25m | 3:46PM1.72m | 5:19AM1.13m | 4:32PM1.68m | 7:06AM1.10m | 5:26PM1.64m | 8:43AM1.14m | 6:28PM1.64m | 9:41AM1.20m | 7:30PM1.67m | |||||||
Low Tide | 8:51PM0.37m | 8:39AM0.46m | 9:51PM0.35m | 9:14AM0.66m | 10:57PM0.34m | 9:54AM0.84m | 00:08AM0.31m | 10:46AM0.98m | 1:19AM0.26m | 12:02PM1.05m | 2:20AM0.19m | 1:22PM1.06m | 3:10AM0.12m | |||||||
 |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |
 | — | — | 6:28 | — | — | 6:30 | — | — | 6:31 | — | — | 6:31 | — | — | 6:33 | — | — | 6:33 | — | — |
 | 8:07 | — | — | 8:07 | — | — | 8:06 | — | — | 8:04 | — | — | 8:02 | — | — | 8:00 | — | — | 8:00 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
Feels °C | 13 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 16 | NW 7 | NW 7 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 15 | SSW 16 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 10 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 16 |
| kJ | 506 | 159 | 128 | 334 | 268 | 242 | 357 | 291 | 305 | 309 | 256 | 260 | 173 | 133 | 88 | 86 | 99 | 68 | 67 | 80 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | NW 6 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | W 9 | SSW 18 | WNW 16 | WNW 15 | WNW 13 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | W 10 | SSW 16 | SW 17 | SSW 12 |
| kJ | 49 | 405 | 334 | 39 | 62 | 50 | 85 | 102 | 172 | 167 | 318 | 220 | 229 | 236 | 154 | 101 | 53 | 53 | 106 | 29 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 10 | W 8 | W 9 | SSE 11 | S 10 | SSW 18 | S 10 | SSW 13 | SW 20 | S 9 | SW 21 | SW 19 | SW 19 | W 15 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 18 | WNW 12 | SW 16 |
| kJ | 30 | 37 | 40 | 11 | 8 | 62 | 2 | 65 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 57 | 58 | 17 | 51 | 80 | 49 | 53 | 29 | 40 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 8 | NW 8 | NW 8 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 6 | NW 6 | NW 7 | NW 7 | NW 8 | NW 8 |
| kJ | — | — | — | 135 | 285 | 327 | 365 | 456 | 619 | 478 | 544 | 276 | 230 | 279 | 177 | 209 | 327 | 353 | 598 | 539 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 0 | 4 | 46 | 320 | 43 | 120 | 102 | 43 | 120 | 102 | 43 | 165 | 264 | 43 | 165 | 264 | 43 | 165 | 72 | 30 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Mendocino County | ||||||||||||||||||||
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 Point Arena 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 Point Arena Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Point Arena provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Point Arena can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Point Arena 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 (Point Arena) 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 Point Arena 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.
Point Arena is 52 km (32 miles) from Ukiah. If you plan a vacation in Mendocino County, look for hotels and other accommodation in Ukiah. Ukiah has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest