The Rivermouth Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Santa Cruz, USA)

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

The Rivermouth Surf Guide

The Rivermouth in Santa Cruz is a sheltered beach break. Winter is the best time of year for surfing here. Offshore winds are from the north. Clean groundswells prevail and the best swell direction is from the northwest. The beach breaks offer lefts and rights. Best around low tide. It's often crowded here. Hazards include rocks, obstacles, pollution, rips.

The Rivermouth Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Sandbar	3	rarely breaks	14.2°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing The Rivermouth:

The best conditions reported for surf at The Rivermouth occur when a South-southwest swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the North.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

juneBest Season: summer

The best time of year for surfing The Rivermouth with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Summer and most often the month of June. Clean surfable waves are typically found 3% of the time in June while 1% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 96% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

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

blown out

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

too small

96%

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

Explore The Rivermouth Location Map

Interactive The Rivermouth 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 The Rivermouth is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) in USA, 45 km (28 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to The Rivermouth is Moffett Federal Afld (Mountain View) Airport (NUQ), also in USA, 50 km (31 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.

The Rivermouth Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 17:51 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 05
ft, °F	2PM	5PM	8PM	11PM
Wave (m)	WNW	WNW	WNW	SSW
Period (s)	12	12	12	15
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off

Tides at The Rivermouth

Current tide and informaton

For Santa Cruz, California, 0 km from The Rivermouth.

Next High Water: 12:44am | 1.46m

Next Low Water: 06:22pm | 1.05m

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

The Rivermouth Sea Temperature

The The Rivermouth water temperature is rather cool (14.2 °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.