Imperial Pier Northside Surf Report & Ideal Conditions
See your personalized forecast for Imperial Pier Northside
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Download LazySurfer →Best conditions for Imperial Pier Northside
Imperial Pier Northside is most often good on a 2–4 ft medium-period (8–16s) swell from the W, with moderate wind from the W, on a high outgoing 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 | moderate wind from the W |
| Best tide | high & outgoing |
These best-conditions estimates come from real sessions LazySurfer users rated highly at this break — not an editorial guess (moderate-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 09:56 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 | 6.2 ft |
| Dominant period | 13s |
| Swell direction | S (173°) |
| Wave buoy | NDBC station 46232 (18 mi away) |
| Wind | 1 kt from the SE — NDBC AGXC1 (101 mi away) |
Imperial Pier Northside 7-day surf forecast
Model wave & wind outlook for Imperial Pier Northside 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 | 5–6 ft | 12s S | 12 kt SW |
| Thu Aug 27 | 5 ft | 14s SW | 8 kt S |
| Fri Aug 28 | 5 ft | 17s SSW | 6 kt W |
| Sat Aug 29 | 5–6 ft | 16s SSW | 7 kt W |
| Sun Aug 30 | 5–6 ft | 15s SSW | 10 kt WNW |
| Mon Aug 31 | 5–6 ft | 13s SSW | 8 kt WNW |
| Tue Sep 1 | 5–6 ft | 12s S | 8 kt WSW |
Tide
Predicted tide for the next two days from NOAA station 9410170 (SAN DIEGO (Broadway)), the nearest tide station (10 mi away). Times local.
- 2026-06-06 00:35 — High 4.847 ft
- 2026-06-06 08:21 — Low 0.365 ft
- 2026-06-06 15:30 — High 3.796 ft
- 2026-06-06 20:04 — Low 3.028 ft
- 2026-06-07 01:36 — High 4.374 ft
- 2026-06-07 09:08 — Low 0.628 ft
Frequently asked
Is Imperial Pier Northside working right now?
As of the latest buoy reading (2026-08-26 09:56 UTC), Imperial Pier Northside is marginal: the live 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 SE.
Is Imperial Pier Northside good for beginners?
Imperial Pier Northside 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 Imperial Pier Northside?
Imperial Pier Northside tends to be best on a high outgoing 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 Imperial Pier Northside?
The best swell direction for Imperial Pier Northside 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 Imperial Pier Northside?
Imperial Pier Northside is most often good with moderate wind from the west (W) — the wind LazySurfer surfers logged on their best-rated sessions here. Wind direction grooms or chops the wave face, so check the live report for current wind.
Where does LazySurfer's surf data for Imperial Pier Northside 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 46232) and the nearest NOAA tide station (SAN DIEGO (Broadway)). The same raw readings NOAA publishes, with no proprietary smoothing.
Does LazySurfer predict whether Imperial Pier Northside 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
- Imperial Pier Southside — 0 mi
- Baja Malibu — 12 mi
- Sunset Cliffs — 13 mi
- Ocean Beach Pier — 13 mi
- Ocean Beach — 14 mi
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