TARLINE

Surf & Swell

For actual surf conditions, find your beach on the map.

Follow offshore energy, then check what reaches your beach. Buoy significant wave height is not breaking surf. Local coastline, exposure and sheltering affect what reaches shore.

Santa Cruz

Station Observations — MontereyWhat this station measuresThese are instrument measurements at this station, which may be an offshore buoy or a fixed coastal platform. Significant wave height is not a beach-specific breaking height. Each beach page states its own modeled breaking height separately.NDBC 46042 · raw observations · past 72 h
Significant Wave Height–ftDominant Period–sSwell From–Water–°FLatest Wave Heightloading observations
Significant Wave Height, Observed
Dominant Period, Observed

Reporting · Moored buoy · last observation Oct 20, 2026, 11:30 PM

Station sources & timestamps3 sources

  • Latest station reportNDBC, NOAA

    Monterey (46042)

    Observed
    when the instrument took this reading
    Successful fetch
    recorded time for the last accepted fetch; not proof the value changed (see source timing details below)

    Latest report received from this physical station; individual fields can have older observation times. This is the recorded start of the most recent successful live poll across this station's products, not response completion or proof that every field refreshed.

    Open the NDBC, NOAA source ↗

  • Offshore swellNDBC, NOAA

    Monterey (46042)

    Observed
    when the instrument took this reading
    Successful fetch
    recorded time for the last accepted fetch; not proof the value changed (see source timing details below)

    One instrument's own reading of open water, selected independently of the water temperature station. The observation time is the oldest of the wave fields shown, so it can overstate a single field's age but never understate it. The fetch timestamp records the start of a successful poll of this field's provider and product, not response completion or the age of the reading.

    Open the NDBC, NOAA source ↗

  • Water temperatureNDBC, NOAA

    Monterey (46042)

    Observed
    when the instrument took this reading
    Successful fetch
    recorded time for the last accepted fetch; not proof the value changed (see source timing details below)

    One instrument's own reading, selected independently of the wave station. The fetch timestamp records the start of a successful poll of this field's provider and product, not response completion or the age of the reading.

    Open the NDBC, NOAA source ↗

All times are Pacific. An upstream issue time is shown only when recorded. A feed response time is not the provider's model initialization or publication time. Unlisted timestamps were not recorded or do not apply.

Station history → NDBC 46042 on NDBC →
Offshore swell forecast · 7 days
MontereyWhat a wave model forecast isOpen-Meteo Marine runs a wave model over this station's location. Every point on these lanes is model output rather than an instrument reading, and the offshore heights shown are the open-water sea state, not the height breaking at a beach.46042 · 7-day swell forecast · Open-Meteo Marine
Offshore Wave Height, Forecast
Dominant Period, Forecast

Loading the wave-model forecast for 46042…

Swell Direction, Every 6h
Swell Direction · Last 7d
Beaches in this area
Capitola Beach Tar unknown Est. surf 10-11 ft @ 12.3 s Wind 4.0kt · Water 65.8°F Natural Bridges State Beach Tar unknown Est. surf 9-10 ft @ 12.9 s Wind 4.4kt · Water 65.8°F Santa Cruz Main Beach Tar unknown Est. surf 10-11 ft @ 12.3 s Wind 4.4kt · Water 65.8°F Seacliff State Beach Tar unknown Est. surf 10-11 ft @ 12.3 s Wind 4.7kt · Water 65.8°F Steamer Lane Tar unknown Est. surf 9-10 ft @ 13.1 s Wind 4.4kt · Water 65.8°F

Page data assembled Wed, Oct 21, 2026, 12:07 AM PDT, which is not how fresh these readings are