Cottons Surf Report & Ideal Conditions
See your personalized forecast for Cottons
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Download LazySurfer →Best conditions for Cottons
Cottons is most often good on a 2–4 ft medium-period (8–16s) swell from the W, with glassy / no wind from the N, on a high incoming tide — the conditions LazySurfer surfers have logged and rated highest here.
| Ideal wave height | 2–4 ft |
| Ideal period | medium-period (8–16s) |
| Best swell direction | W |
| Best wind | glassy / no wind from the N |
| Best tide | high & incoming |
These best-conditions estimates come from real sessions LazySurfer users rated highly at this break — not an editorial guess (high-confidence read). In the app, LazySurfer's custom deep-learning model predicts your own 1–5★ rating at about 90% exact-match accuracy (97.6% within one star). How LazySurfer works →
Current conditions
Latest reading from the nearest NOAA buoys (UTC 2026-08-26 10:00 UTC). LazySurfer reads this same public NDBC data directly — no proprietary smoothing. New to buoy data? See how to read a NOAA buoy.
| Wave height | 4.6 ft |
| Dominant period | 13s |
| Swell direction | S (176°) |
| Wave buoy | NDBC station 46277 (5 mi away) |
| Wind | 2 kt from the NW — NDBC PFXC1 (43 mi away) |
Cottons 7-day surf forecast
Model wave & wind outlook for Cottons from NOAA's GEFS-Wave model, refreshed daily. Heights are open-water swell (face heights at the break are typically larger).
| Day | Swell height | Period & direction | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed Aug 26 | 5 ft | 12s S | 8 kt SSW |
| Thu Aug 27 | 4–5 ft | 14s SSW | 8 kt SSE |
| Fri Aug 28 | 4 ft | 18s SSW | 9 kt WSW |
| Sat Aug 29 | 5 ft | 17s SSW | 8 kt S |
| Sun Aug 30 | 4–5 ft | 15s SSW | 10 kt SSE |
| Mon Aug 31 | 4–5 ft | 14s SSW | 10 kt S |
| Tue Sep 1 | 5 ft | 13s S | 9 kt SSW |
Tide
Predicted tide for the next two days from NOAA station 9410230 (La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf)), the nearest tide station (41 mi away). Times local.
- 2026-06-06 00:31 — High 4.504 ft
- 2026-06-06 08:19 — Low 0.285 ft
- 2026-06-06 15:39 — High 3.53 ft
- 2026-06-06 20:02 — Low 2.878 ft
- 2026-06-07 01:31 — High 4.041 ft
- 2026-06-07 09:04 — Low 0.546 ft
Frequently asked
Is Cottons working right now?
As of the latest buoy reading (2026-08-26 10:00 UTC), Cottons is marginal: the live 4–6 ft medium-period swell from the S is off its ideal W direction and is bigger than usual, and the wind is calm from the NW.
Is Cottons good for beginners?
Cottons is best for improving and intermediate surfers — it's most often good on 2–4 ft surf, manageable on its smaller days but a step up from true beginner conditions. Conditions change daily, so always check the live report on this page before paddling out.
What's the best tide for Cottons?
Cottons tends to be best on a high incoming tide — the tide stage LazySurfer surfers have rated highest here. Tide changes how the swell breaks, so check the two-day tide chart on this page for today's high and low times.
What swell direction is best for Cottons?
The best swell direction for Cottons is from the west (W). Swell arriving from the west lines up best with how this break faces, which is when LazySurfer surfers have rated it highest.
What's the best wind for Cottons?
Cottons is most often good when it's glassy, with little to no wind — the conditions LazySurfer surfers have rated highest here. Light or offshore wind keeps the wave face clean; check the live report on this page for current wind.
Where does LazySurfer's surf data for Cottons come from?
LazySurfer reads public data directly from NOAA's National Data Buoy Center and the National Weather Service — the nearest NDBC wave buoy (station 46277) and the nearest NOAA tide station (La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf)). The same raw readings NOAA publishes, with no proprietary smoothing.
Does LazySurfer predict whether Cottons is good for me?
Yes. LazySurfer trains a custom deep-learning model — a PyTorch neural network with per-user embeddings, retrained weekly on real logged surf sessions from the LazySurfer community — to predict the 1-to-5 star rating you personally would give, rather than a single average rating for everyone.
Nearby spots
- Uppers — 0 mi
- Lowers — 1 mi
- Middles — 1 mi
- Church — 1 mi
- San Clemente State Beach — 1 mi
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