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Refugio State Beach

TAR/OIL 9.4/10 0 reports today Β· last 4 days ago
Tar/Oil scores 0–10 Β· 10 clean
9.4 Sand
10.0 Water
Surf
SURF 3-5 ft Β· chest-to-head
Offshore swell 6.2 ft @ 11s W Β· obs 1h ago
CDIP MOP nearshore model (Scripps, DOI 10.18437/C7WC72) + local windsea
Wind
4.6 kt
offshore Β· NNE
Tide ft MLLW
H 4:27 PM
now 2.0 ft rising Β· next H 5.1 Β· 4:27 PM
Temps
64.6Β°F Water
67.7Β°F Air

Tar/Oil Conditions

TAR/OIL SCORE (0-10 Β· 10 = clean) Β· 7 DAYSHow scoring works β†’
now 9.4

Surf

Offshore Buoy β€” West Santa Barbara46054 Β· obs + forecast Β· NDBC / wave model
no data
Swell direction Β· every 6h
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Mon 2 AM
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Tue 2 AM
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Mon 2 AM
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Loading swell x tar…

more in Research β†’

Weather

Weather
67.7Β°Fsunny4.6 ktUV 0Sunrise 6:36 AM Β· Sunset 7:20 PM
Today, hour by hour
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Wind direction
Sat 12 AM
Sat 4 AM
Sat 8 AM
Sat 12 PM
Sat 4 PM
Sat 8 PM
TodayUV 7 HighSunrise 6:36 AMSunset 7:20 PMMoonrise 12:18 AMMoonset 3:45 PM🌘 Waning Crescentnext full moon Sep 27

Live Observations

Jul 17, 2:13 PM anon Wrack line Clean None Balls – – None – B
Jul 17, 1:54 PM anon Dry sand Clean Trace <1% Balls Coin Hard None – C
Jul 17, 8:34 AM SB Channelkeeper Volunteers β˜… Wrack line Clean None Balls – – None – A
Jul 17, 6:07 AM anon Wrack line Sheen Trace <1% Balls Coin Firm – – A
Jul 16, 6:28 PM SB Channelkeeper Volunteers β˜… Waterline Clean Trace <1% Balls Coin Hard None – A
Jul 16, 8:07 AM UCSB COPR Lab β˜… Waterline Clean Trace <1% Balls Coin Hard Odor – A
Jul 15, 6:42 PM anon Wrack line Clean Trace <1% Balls Pea Hard None – B
Jul 15, 1:58 PM rincon_rider Wrack line Clean Trace <1% Balls Coin Firm None – A
Jul 15, 10:20 AM copr_val Waterline Clean None Film – – None – C
Jul 13, 11:21 AM UCSB COPR Lab β˜… Wrack line Clean None Balls – – Tar balls – A
Jul 12, 6:49 PM anon Waterline Clean None Film – – – – B
Jul 12, 7:22 AM eastbeach_ellie Wrack line Clean None Balls – – None – B
Jul 11, 3:15 PM anon Dry sand Clean None Balls – – – – C
Jul 11, 8:05 AM anon Waterline Clean None Film – – – – C
Jul 9, 11:06 AM SB Channelkeeper Volunteers β˜… Wrack line Clean None Balls – – Sheen, Tar balls – A
Jul 9, 8:42 AM tide_pool_tom Rocks Clean None Balls – – None – B
Jul 8, 5:23 PM anon Wrack line Clean None Balls – – – – A
Jul 8, 4:40 PM UCSB COPR Lab β˜… Wrack line Clean None Balls – – None – A
Jul 8, 12:38 PM anon Dry sand Clean None Balls – – None – C
Jul 8, 10:09 AM campuspt_cam Dry sand Clean None Balls – – – – B

16-Day Forecast

SAT SEP 5
Sat, 9/5 Morning 3.6ft Β· chest-to-head 3.4ft @ 12.1s – offshore Clear Β· 72Β°F 96%
Sat, 9/5 Evening 3.6ft Β· chest-to-head 3.2ft @ 12.2s – sideshore Clear Β· 77.1Β°F 96%
SUN SEP 6
Sun, 9/6 Morning 3.8ft Β· chest-to-head 3.7ft @ 11.7s – sideshore Clear Β· 77.3Β°F 93%
Sun, 9/6 Evening 4ft Β· chest-to-head 3.8ft @ 11.5s – sideshore Clear Β· 83Β°F 93%
MON SEP 7
Mon, 9/7 Morning 4.6ft Β· chest-to-head 3.9ft @ 10.4s – offshore Clear Β· 76.5Β°F 91%
Mon, 9/7 Evening 4.6ft Β· chest-to-head 3.9ft @ 10.5s – sideshore Clear Β· 79.6Β°F 91%
TUE SEP 8
Tue, 9/8 Morning 4.5ft Β· chest-to-head 3.5ft @ 10.3s – offshore Clear Β· 79.9Β°F 88%
Tue, 9/8 Evening 4.6ft Β· chest-to-head 3.4ft @ 10.2s – sideshore Overcast Β· 85.5Β°F 88%
WED SEP 9
Wed, 9/9 Morning 3.8ft Β· chest-to-head 3ft @ 9.7s – sideshore Overcast Β· 83.3Β°F 86%
Wed, 9/9 Evening 3.5ft Β· chest-to-head 2.9ft @ 9.9s – onshore Mostly cloudy Β· 91.6Β°F 86%
THU SEP 10
Thu, 9/10 Morning 3.8ft Β· chest-to-head 2.9ft @ 10.3s – sideshore Partly cloudy Β· 81.8Β°F 83%
Thu, 9/10 Evening 5.1ft Β· overhead 3.4ft @ 9.2s – sideshore Clear Β· 93.5Β°F 83%
FRI SEP 11
Fri, 9/11 Morning 4.1ft Β· chest-to-head 3.1ft @ 9s – sideshore Partly cloudy Β· 76.1Β°F 81%
Fri, 9/11 Evening 1.5ft Β· shin-to-knee 3.2ft @ 8.3s – sideshore Mostly cloudy Β· 87.6Β°F 81%
SAT SEP 12
Sat, 9/12 Morning 0.7ft Β· ankle-high 2.9ft @ 8.3s – offshore Mostly cloudy Β· 70.8Β°F 78%
Sat, 9/12 Evening 0.5ft Β· ankle-high 3.2ft @ 7.4s – offshore Clear Β· 83.8Β°F 78%
SUN SEP 13
Sun, 9/13 Morning 0.9ft Β· ankle-high 3ft @ 6.8s – offshore Clear Β· 69.6Β°F 76%
Sun, 9/13 Evening 0.9ft Β· ankle-high 3.4ft @ 6s – offshore Partly cloudy Β· 83Β°F 76%
MON SEP 14
Mon, 9/14 Morning – Β· – – – Partly cloudy Β· 70.2Β°F 73%
Mon, 9/14 Evening – Β· – – – Partly cloudy Β· 83.8Β°F 73%
TUE SEP 15
Tue, 9/15 Morning – Β· – – – Overcast Β· 69.6Β°F 71%
Tue, 9/15 Evening – Β· – – – Mostly cloudy Β· 84Β°F 71%
WED SEP 16
Wed, 9/16 Morning – Β· – – – Mostly cloudy Β· 66.4Β°F 68%
Wed, 9/16 Evening – Β· – – – Clear Β· 80.3Β°F 68%
THU SEP 17
Thu, 9/17 Morning – Β· – – – Clear Β· 67.8Β°F 66%
Thu, 9/17 Evening – Β· – – – Clear Β· 79.3Β°F 66%
FRI SEP 18
Fri, 9/18 Morning – Β· – – – Clear Β· 68.6Β°F 63%
Fri, 9/18 Evening – Β· – – – Clear Β· 78.8Β°F 63%
SAT SEP 19
Sat, 9/19 Morning – Β· – – – – 61%
Sat, 9/19 Evening – Β· – – – – 61%
SUN SEP 20
Sun, 9/20 Morning – Β· – – – – 58%
Sun, 9/20 Evening – Β· – – – – 58%
Confidence is an estimate based on forecast lead time.

Nearby Buoys

Buoy 46054 just now
Wave ht 6.2ft
Period 11s
Water temp 64.6Β°F
Station 46054 on NDBC →

Photo Gallery

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Nearby Incident Reports

Aug 11, 2026 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: THE CALLER DISCOVERED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 23.8 km β€”
Jun 21, 2026 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: CALLER REPORTING AN UNKNOWN BROWN SHEEN IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. CALLER STATES THERE ARE SOME THICK PORTIONS. 12.5 km β€”
Jun 7, 2026 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: CALLER REPORTING AN UNKNOWN SHEEN NEARBY A PLATFORM. THE SHEEN IS RAINBOW AND ESTIMATED TO BE .25 MILES LONG. 17.5 km β€”
Show older (15)
Apr 16, 2026 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: THE CALLER DISCOVERED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN INCIDENT IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THE SOURCE OF THE SHEEN IS UNKNOWN. CALLER STATES THAT THE SHEEN IS … 6.5 km β€”
Nov 11, 2025 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: CALLER REPORTED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE. 23.4 km β€”
Sep 25, 2025 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: THE CALLER REPORTED THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE ON THE WATERS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. AN ESTIMATE OF THE SIZE WAS… 15 km β€”
Aug 17, 2025 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: THE CALLER DISCOVERED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE IN THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL. 20.7 km β€”
Jul 26, 2025 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: CALLER REPORTED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE. 24.3 km β€”
Jul 7, 2025 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: CALLER REPORTED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE. CALLER HAS CHECKED THEIR PLATFORM AND CAN CONFIRM THE SHEEN IS NOT FROM CALLER. 22.9 km β€”
Jun 8, 2025 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: CALLER STATES DISCOVERING AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THE CALLER STATES THE SHEEN WAS 1 TO 2NM LONG X 1NM … 24.2 km β€”
May 2, 2025 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: CALLER REPORTS AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. CALLER STATES THIS IS POSSIBLY NATURAL SEEPAGE. THE MATERIAL … 9.2 km β€”
Feb 18, 2025 NRC raw raw report β€” unverified: THE CALLER IS REPORTING A RELEASE OF CRUDE OIL INTO THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL FROM AN OIL RIG. THE CAUSE OF THE RELEASE IS UNKNOWN AT THIS T… 17 km β€”
Dec 11, 2021 IncidentNews Sheen near Platform Holly; Santa Barbara, CA 17.1 km Source β†—
May 30, 2019 IncidentNews Ellwood Beach spill; Goleta, CA 15.5 km Source β†—
May 19, 2015 IncidentNews Refugio Incident; Santa Barbara, CA 1.5 km Source β†—
Oct 29, 2010 IncidentNews Barge transfer accident; Goleta Point, CA 17.4 km Source β†—
Nov 16, 2007 IncidentNews Platform Hondo; 5 nm off Santa Barbara, CA 8.2 km Source β†—
May 2, 1996 IncidentNews Heritage Platform (Exxon); Santa Barbara, California 23 km Source β†—