Sand Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Santa Barbara, USA)

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

Sand Beach Surf Guide

Sand Beach in Santa Barbara is a fairly exposed beach and reef break that has reliable surf and can work at any time of the year. The best wind direction is from the east northeast. Groundswells and windswells are equally likely and the best swell direction is from the west. Waves at the beach break both left and right. It's often crowded here. Beware of rocks and rips.

Sand Beach Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach and reef	2	consistent	14.9°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Sand Beach:

The best conditions reported for surf at Sand Beach occur when a West swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the East-northeast.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

januaryBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Sand Beach 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 26% of the time in January while 47% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 27% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

26%

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

blown out

47%

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

too small

27%

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

Explore Sand Beach Location Map

Interactive Sand Beach 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 Sand Beach is Vandenberg Afb (Lompoc) Airport (VBG) in USA, 73 km (45 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Sand Beach is Point Mugu Nas Airport (NTD), also in USA, 77 km (48 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.

Sand Beach Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Wednesday, 6 May 2026, 06:21 Local Time

m, °C	Wednesday 06
ft, °F	2AM	5AM	8AM	11AM
Wave (m)	SSW	SW	SW	SW
Period (s)	16	16	16	16
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	glass	glass	cross- on

Tides at Sand Beach

Current tide and informaton

For Isla Vista, 2 km from Sand Beach.

Next High Water: 04:55pm | 1.36m

Next Low Water: 08:06am | 0.47m

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

Sand Beach Sea Temperature

The water temperature (14.9 °C) at Sand Beach is quite cool. If the sun shines as we have forecast, it should feel warm enough to surf in a good spring wetsuit. Effective windchill factor of (19.0 °C) will make the air and water feel about the same temperature.

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit.

Current Temp*: 14.9°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite