Sunset State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Santa Cruz, USA)

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

Sunset State Beach Surf Guide

Sunset State Beach in Santa Cruz is an exposed beach break that only works once in a while with no particular seasonal pattern. Offshore winds blow from the east. Groundswells more frequent than windswells and the ideal swell angle is from the west. The beach break offers both left and right hand waves. Best around high tide. Rarely crowded here. Hazards include rips and sharks.

Sunset State Beach Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach	2	inconsistent	14.6°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Sunset State Beach:

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

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

januaryBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Sunset State 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 47% of the time in January while 52% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 1% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

47%

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

blown out

52%

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 Sunset State Beach Location Map

Interactive Sunset State 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 Sunset State Beach is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) in USA, 52 km (32 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Sunset State Beach is Moffett Federal Afld (Mountain View) Airport (NUQ), also in USA, 60 km (37 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.

Sunset State Beach Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 01:41 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 05
ft, °F	2AM	5AM	8AM	11AM
Wave (m)	WNW	WNW	WNW	WNW
Period (s)	13	13	13	13
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	glass	glass	glass	glass

Tides at Sunset State Beach

Current tide and informaton

For Rio Del Mar, 9 km from Sunset State Beach.

Next High Water: 03:30pm | 1.49m

Next Low Water: 08:02am | 0.36m

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

Sunset State Beach Sea Temperature

The Sunset State Beach water temperature is rather cool (14.6 °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.