Rockaway Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(San Mateo, USA)

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Spot Information

Rockaway Surf Guide

Rockaway in San Mateo is an exposed beach and reef break that has reliable surf and can work at any time of the year. Works best in offshore winds from the southeast. Clean groundswells prevail and the ideal swell angle is from the northwest. The beach break favours right handers and primariliy right reef breaks.. Best around low tide. When the surf is up, it can get quite busy in the water. Watch out for rips, rocks, pollution and sharks.

Rockaway Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach and reef	3	consistent	14.8°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Rockaway:

The best conditions reported for surf at Rockaway occur when a Northwest swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the Southeast.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

decemberBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Rockaway with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of December. Clean surfable waves are typically found 44% of the time in December while 51% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 5% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

44%

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

blown out

51%

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

too small

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

Explore Rockaway Location Map

Interactive Rockaway 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 Rockaway is San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in USA, 11 km (7 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Rockaway is Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK), also in USA, 28 km (17 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.

Rockaway Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 07:59 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 05
ft, °F	8AM	11AM	2PM	5PM
Wave (m)	WNW	WNW	WNW	WNW
Period (s)	12	12	12	12
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on

What does Rockaway look like?

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

Credit: Tim Struckmeier Credit: Tim Struckmeier Credit: Tim Struckmeier Credit: Tim Struckmeier Credit: Tim Struckmeier

Tides at Rockaway

Current tide and informaton

For Pacifica, 1 km from Rockaway.

Next High Water: 03:21pm | 1.85m

Next Low Water: 08:11am | 0.38m

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

Rockaway Sea Temperature

The Rockaway water temperature is rather cool (14.8 °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*: 14.8°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

View Sea Temp Map

Swell History at Rockaway

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

Average Swell

View Swell Statistics

Wind History at Rockaway

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

Average Wind

View Wind Statistics

Rockaway 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 2 votes.

Overall:3.0
Quality on a good day:3.0
Consistency of Surf:3.5
Difficulty Level:4.0
Wind and Kite Surfing:1.0
Crowds:3.0
...

See all 18 ratings

Review

Impartial reviews submitted by Surf-Forecast users.

Scooter Knott. from United States

“Sicki right with occasional lefts. Look out for two blond guys that rip and scream at every wave they're on. There's also an older nut job who wears seaweed as a scarf and drops in on huge close outs. Experts only on this wave. I've seen many boards get destroyed here.”

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