Best Surf Spots in California

New to surfing? See the best beginner surf spots in California →

The best surf spots in California, ranked by how highly LazySurfer surfers have rated them — each with its ideal swell, wind and tide plus a live NOAA buoy report and tide chart. Tap any spot for the full report.

• Oceanside Pier Southside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the south, high incoming tide
• Boneyard — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Zuma Beach South — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Zuma — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Morro Bay Harbor Entrance — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Sunset Cliffs — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Seal Beach Pier Northside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Seal Beach Jetty — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Shell Beach — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Surfside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Marina State Beach — best on a 6 ft+ swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Monterey State Beach — best on a 6 ft+ swell from the northwest, high outgoing tide
• Avila Beach — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the northwest, high incoming tide
• Middles — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Beacons — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Doheny Rivermouth — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Cottons — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Lowers — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• South Ocean Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Uppers — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Lower Jetties — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• San Onofre — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• San Onofre State Beach Kiosk — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Huntington State Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Doheny State Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Newport Pier Northside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Newport Pier Southside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Salt Creek — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Ventura Point — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• San Clemente State Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Leadbetter Beach — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Oceanside Harbor — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Imperial Pier Southside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Maverick's — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Scripps — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Santa Monica Beach South — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Pacific Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Cardiff Reef South — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• 36th St — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Steamer Lane — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Mission Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• El Porto North — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• Goldenwest — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Carpinteria State Beach — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Oceano Pier Ave — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Pipes — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• T Street — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• San Onofre Point — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Malibu First Point — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• Malibu Surfrider Beach — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• Old Mans — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Venice Breakwater — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• Sapphire St — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Hermosa Pier Southside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Pismo Beach Pier — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Pismo Beach North — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Sunset Point — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• Ocean Beach Pier — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Monterey Bay — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the northwest, high incoming tide
• Church — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Oceanside Pier Northside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Morro Bay Boat Launch — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the northwest, high incoming tide
• Morro Bay Harbor — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the northwest, high incoming tide
• Seaside Reef — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Seal Beach Pier Southside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Venice Pier Northside — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• Leadbetter Point — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• San Elijo State Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Central Ocean Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Mondos — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Pleasure Point — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Manhattan Pier Northside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Blackies — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Torrey Pines State Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Trails — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• The Wedge — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Oceanside Harbor South Jetty — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Topanga Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• Chart House — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• Scripps Pier Northside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Hb Pier — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Bolsa Chica State Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Bolsa Chica State Beach N — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Pismo Beach South — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Venice Beach — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Venice Pier Southside — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southwest, high outgoing tide
• 25th St — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• El Porto — best on a 0–2 ft swell from the southwest, high incoming tide
• 17th St — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Capitola — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Tamarack — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Manhattan Pier Southside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Ocean Beach — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Newport Jetties — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Imperial Pier Northside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• Cayucos Pier — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the northwest, high incoming tide
• Morro Bay North — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Aliso Creek — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Campus Point — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Windansea — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Shell Beach South — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the west, high outgoing tide
• George's — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Hermosa Pier Northside — best on a 2–4 ft swell from the west, high incoming tide
• Jalama — best on a 4–6 ft swell from the northwest, high incoming tide

Frequently asked

What's the best surf spot in California?

By LazySurfer's session ratings, Oceanside Pier Southside is the top-rated surf spot in California. Boneyard and Zuma Beach South rank close behind. Each spot's page shows its ideal conditions and a live NOAA buoy and tide report.

Where can beginners surf in California?

For learning, look to the California breaks that are at their best on small, forgiving waves — including Lower Jetties, Santa Monica Beach South, El Porto North. These tend to be the most approachable, though every spot gets bigger on a good swell, so check the live report first.

How does LazySurfer rank surf spots in California?

LazySurfer ranks each break by the surf-quality ratings real users logged there, and trains a custom deep-learning model — a PyTorch neural network with per-user embeddings, retrained weekly on those logged sessions — to predict the 1-to-5 star rating you personally would give, rather than a single average for everyone.

More: all surf spot reports · How LazySurfer works · Compare surf apps