Monterey Bay Surf Report & Ideal Conditions
See your personalized forecast for Monterey Bay
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Download LazySurfer →Best conditions for Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is most often good on a 4–6 ft medium-period (8–16s) swell from the NW, with light wind from the N, on a high incoming tide — the conditions LazySurfer surfers have logged and rated highest across the surrounding region.
| Ideal wave height | 4–6 ft |
| Ideal period | medium-period (8–16s) |
| Best swell direction | NW |
| Best wind | light 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 | 3.9 ft |
| Dominant period | 6s |
| Swell direction | WNW (291°) |
| Wave buoy | NDBC station 46236 (11 mi away) |
| Wind | 14 kt from the NNW — NDBC 46092 (13 mi away) |
Monterey Bay 7-day surf forecast
Model wave & wind outlook for Monterey Bay 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 | 4–6 ft | 14s SSW | 11 kt NNW |
| Thu Aug 27 | 5–7 ft | 11s WSW | 13 kt NNW |
| Fri Aug 28 | 5–6 ft | 16s SW | 12 kt NNW |
| Sat Aug 29 | 6 ft | 17s SSW | 14 kt NNW |
| Sun Aug 30 | 5–6 ft | 15s SSW | 12 kt NW |
| Mon Aug 31 | 4–5 ft | 14s SSW | 7 kt NW |
| Tue Sep 1 | 4–5 ft | 13s SSW | 11 kt N |
Tide
Predicted tide for the next two days from NOAA station 9413450 (MONTEREY, MONTEREY BAY), the nearest tide station (0 mi away). Times local.
- 2026-06-06 01:57 — High 4.394 ft
- 2026-06-06 09:41 — Low -0.062 ft
- 2026-06-06 17:07 — High 3.869 ft
- 2026-06-06 21:55 — Low 2.917 ft
- 2026-06-07 02:59 — High 3.964 ft
- 2026-06-07 10:21 — Low 0.258 ft
Frequently asked
Is Monterey Bay working right now?
As of the latest buoy reading (2026-08-26 10:00 UTC), Monterey Bay is off: the live 2–4 ft short-period swell from the W is off its ideal NW direction and is under its usual size, and the wind is strong from the NW.
Is Monterey Bay good for beginners?
Monterey Bay is best suited to experienced surfers — it's most often good on larger 4–6 ft surf that breaks with more power than beginners should take on. Conditions change daily, so always check the live report on this page before paddling out.
What's the best tide for Monterey Bay?
Monterey Bay 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 Monterey Bay?
The best swell direction for Monterey Bay is from the northwest (NW). Swell arriving from the northwest lines up best with how this break faces, which is when LazySurfer surfers have rated it highest.
What's the best wind for Monterey Bay?
Monterey Bay is most often good with light wind from the north (N) — 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 Monterey Bay 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 46236) and the nearest NOAA tide station (MONTEREY, MONTEREY BAY). The same raw readings NOAA publishes, with no proprietary smoothing.
Does LazySurfer predict whether Monterey Bay 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
- Monterey State Beach — 1 mi
- Marina State Beach — 7 mi
- Pleasure Point — 24 mi
- Steamer Lane — 25 mi
- Capitola — 25 mi
More California surf: best surf spots in California · best surf spots for beginners in California
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