Lowers Surf Report & Ideal Conditions

Live NOAA data · Updated 2026-08-26
As of the latest buoy reading (2026-08-26 10:00 UTC), Lowers is off: 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. Lowers is most often good on a 2–4 ft short-period (under 8s) swell from the W, with light wind from the W, on a high incoming tide — the conditions LazySurfer surfers have logged and rated highest here. It best suits improving and intermediate surfers.

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Best conditions for Lowers

Lowers is most often good on a 2–4 ft short-period (under 8s) swell from the W, with light wind from the W, on a high incoming tide — the conditions LazySurfer surfers have logged and rated highest here.

Ideal wave height2–4 ft
Ideal periodshort-period (under 8s)
Best swell directionW
Best windlight wind from the W
Best tidehigh & incoming

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 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 height4.6 ft
Dominant period13s
Swell directionS (176°)
Wave buoyNDBC station 46277 (5 mi away)
Wind2 kt from the NW — NDBC PFXC1 (44 mi away)

Lowers 7-day surf forecast

Model wave & wind outlook for Lowers from NOAA's GEFS-Wave model, refreshed daily. Heights are open-water swell (face heights at the break are typically larger).

DaySwell heightPeriod & directionWind
Wed Aug 265 ft12s S8 kt SSW
Thu Aug 274–5 ft14s SSW8 kt SSE
Fri Aug 284 ft18s SSW9 kt WSW
Sat Aug 295 ft17s SSW8 kt S
Sun Aug 304–5 ft15s SSW10 kt SSE
Mon Aug 314–5 ft14s SSW10 kt S
Tue Sep 15 ft13s S9 kt SSW

Tide

Predicted tide for the next two days from NOAA station 9410230 (La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf)), the nearest tide station (40 mi away). Times local.

Lowers tide chart for 2026-08-26 Predicted tide height in feet over two days, with high and low markers. 12a6a12p6p12a6a12p6p 4.5ft12:31a0.3ft8:19a3.5ft3:39p2.9ft8:02p4.0ft1:31a0.5ft9:04a3.9ft4:19p2.6ft9:48pNow0.34.5

Frequently asked

Is Lowers working right now?

As of the latest buoy reading (2026-08-26 10:00 UTC), Lowers is off: 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 Lowers good for beginners?

Lowers 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 Lowers?

Lowers 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 Lowers?

The best swell direction for Lowers 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 Lowers?

Lowers is most often good with light 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 Lowers 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 Lowers 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

More California surf: best surf spots in California · best surf spots for beginners in California

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