Surf Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Santa Barbara, USA)

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- Hourly Forecast
- 16 Day Forecast
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Spot Information

Surf Beach Surf Guide

Surf Beach in Santa Barbara is an exposed beach break that has fairly consistent surf and can work at any time of the year. Offshore winds are from the southeast. Groundswells and windswells are equally likely and the best swell direction is from the northwest. The beach break offers both left and right hand waves. Best around high tide. It very rarely gets crowded here. Beware of rips and sharks.

Surf Beach Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach	3	fairly consistent	13.1°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Surf Beach:

The best conditions reported for surf at Surf Beach 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 Surf Beach (for consistent clean waves)?

januaryBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Surf 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 39% of the time in January while 59% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 2% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

39%

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

blown out

59%

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 Surf Beach Location Map

Interactive Surf 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 Surf Beach is Vandenberg Afb (Lompoc) Airport (VBG) in USA, 7 km (4 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Surf Beach is Point Mugu Nas Airport (NTD), also in USA, 150 km (93 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.

Surf Beach Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Monday, 4 May 2026, 13:56 Local Time

m, °C	Monday 04
ft, °F	2PM	5PM	8PM	11PM
Wave (m)	WNW	WNW	WNW	WNW
Period (s)	14	14	14	14
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- on	on	on	cross- on

What does Surf Beach look like?

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

Credit: Dan Liberotti

Tides at Surf Beach

Current tide and informaton

For Surf Beach, 0 km from Surf Beach.

Next High Water: 11:37pm | 1.97m

Next Low Water: 05:18pm | 1.26m

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

Surf Beach Sea Temperature

The water temperature (13.1 °C) at Surf 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 (15.0 °C) will make the air and water feel about the same temperature.

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit.

Current Temp*: 13.1°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

View Sea Temp Map

Swell History at Surf Beach

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

Average Swell

View Swell Statistics

Wind History at Surf Beach

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

Average Wind

View Wind Statistics

Surf Beach 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 1 vote.

Overall:3.0
Quality on a good day:3.0
Consistency of Surf:3.0
Difficulty Level:4.0
Crowds:4.0
...

See all 18 ratings

Review

Impartial reviews submitted by Surf-Forecast users.

Matthew Garcia from United States

“The waves here are very powerful and the barrels here will make your head spin. When the surf is 6ft+ conditions are epic. Just be aware that there has been a fatal shark attack here. Also know that an attack can happen at any beach so live life and enjoy yourself if you are trying to get some waves. If it is your time, then there is nothing you can do anyway.”

Other Nearby Breaks Closest To:

Discover surf breaks near Surf Beach. Click below to view there surf guides.