Long Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report (2024)

FAQs

How are the waves at Long Beach today? ›

Choppy, strong sideshore current with WSW winds 20-25mph in the morning shifting W for the afternoon. Minimal (ankle high or less) surf. Light sideshore texture in the morning with WNW winds 10-15mph.

Swellmagnet provides some of the best surf reports in the industry, with accurate and verifiable results gathered via an innovative system of surf condition monitors and detectors.

A surf report, however, is not a 100 percent accurate maritime weather forecast tool. Instead, surf reports represent interpretations of data collected over time from a given surf spot, and so each surf report site will have tuned the weather algorithms it uses to make sense of its prevailing conditions.

How big are the waves at Long Beach today? The current surf forecast for Long Beach at 3PM is: 6ft 12s primary swell from a West-southwest direction and 4ft 10s secondary swell from a South direction (forecast issued at 01:00pm May 18). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-shore and the swell rating is 2.

Because Mother's Beach is located inside Alamitos Bay, just below Marine Stadium, the water is protected from the motion of the open ocean, providing consistently calm conditions for the designated swim areas.

Recife, Brazil

Brazil likely doesn't come to mind when you think of sharks, but Recifie, in the Pernambuco state, is one of the sharkiest surf destinations in the world. Between 1992 and 2013, there were 62 attacks, 24 of which were fatal. A third of all attacks resulted in a death.

Surfline has been the surf world's go-to for wave forecasting and surf reports since 1985, helping millions of surfers score better waves, more often. Use the Surfline app to know before you go anytime, anywhere. Keep track of current surf conditions.

Generally speaking the perfect size for beginners is 1 to 2ft. For intermediates: 2-4ft waves are best as it gives you more face of the wave to progress your skills on. You should keep an eye on the 'Swell Period', because it's a lot more indicative of the actual wave size (see the next point).

Usually, you will notice that it is better to surf on a mid to medium tide that is rising towards the high tide and/or for a few hours after the high tide.

How big is a 4 foot wave? ›

1 ft = Ankle-high. 2 ft = Knee-high. 3ft = Waist-high. 4ft = Chest-high.

Not necessarily — it depends on where you plan to surf. High tides are great if you're headed towards a reef break. The only exception is if it's near a bluff, in which case the waves rarely break before hitting land. Conversely, medium to low tides are better if you're surfing near a beach break.

slight – up to 1.0 metre. moderate – up to 2.0 metres. rough – up to 3.0 metres. very rough – up to 4.5 metres.

LOTUS is our proprietary global wave model. The successor of LOLA. Surfline's special blend of high-res bathymetry mapping and near-shore wave models. Real time validation of model output using satellites & buoys.

Mixed swell W 2 to 4 ft at 8 seconds and S 2 ft at 15 seconds. W winds 5 to 10 kt, becoming 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 2 ft or less.

Tide and Surfing

If the tide is too high and rising, each successive wave will push higher, while if the tide is high and falling, the energy in the waves will decrease with each wave. As the tide approaches low tide, the waves will be less powerful and flat.

Surging Waves:

These don't seem to break in a dramatic way, but rather bulge and then suddenly surge up the beach far further than you expect. The danger of this type of wave is that it can pull people from quite high up the beach into the sea. Tsunamis are surging waves.

He says that human-caused climate change will force seas to rise in the future, making waves even bigger. A Scripps Institution of Oceanography study from last summer found that California waves have grown, on average, a foot taller in the last 50 years as climate change has heated up the planet.