Schooner Gulch Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Mendocino County, USA)

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- Hourly Forecast
- 16 Day Forecast
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Spot Information

Schooner Gulch Surf Guide

Schooner Gulch/Moat Creek in Mendocino County is an exposed beach and reef break that has pretty consitent surf. Spring and Summer provide the best conditions. Works best in offshore winds from the northeast with some shelter here from northwest winds. Groundswells are more common than windswells and the best swell direction is from the southwest. The beach break provides left and right handers as well as left and right hand reef breaks.. Best around mid tide when the tide is rising. It very rarely gets crowded here. Take care of sharks, rips, rocks and locals.

Schooner Gulch Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach and reef	2	fairly consistent	11.2°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Schooner Gulch:

The best conditions reported for surf at Schooner Gulch occur when a Southwest swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the Northeast.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

februaryBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Schooner Gulch with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of February. Clean surfable waves are typically found 10% of the time in February while 25% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 65% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

10%

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

blown out

25%

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

too small

65%

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

Explore Schooner Gulch Location Map

Interactive Schooner Gulch 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 Schooner Gulch is Travis Afb (Fairfield) Airport (SUU) in USA, 169 km (105 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Schooner Gulch is Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK), also in USA, 183 km (114 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.

Schooner Gulch Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 04:39 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 05
ft, °F	2AM	5AM	8AM	11AM
Wave (m)	WNW	WNW	WNW	SSW
Period (s)	13	12	12	17
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross

What does Schooner Gulch look like?

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

Tides at Schooner Gulch

Current tide and informaton

For Arena Cove, California, 3 km from Schooner Gulch.

Next High Water: 03:39pm | 1.13m

Next Low Water: 08:27am | -0.15m

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

Schooner Gulch Sea Temperature

The water temperature (11.2 °C) at Schooner Gulch is quite cold. If the sun shines as forecast, it should feel warm enough to get away with a good sealed spring wetsuit but you won't overheat in a winter wetsuit, gloves boots and a hood. Effective windchill factor of (12.0 °C).

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit, a neoprene hood, gloves and boots.