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🇺🇸 San Diego, California

La Jolla Surf Report

Live conditions · Updated every 30 minutes · Always free

Last updated: 8:00 AM PDT
7 /10
Great Conditions
Thursday, May 21, 2026

Great surf today. waist to chest high waves (3.2ft), glassy conditions, outgoing tide. Consistent and clean — well worth the session.

⏱ Best time to paddle out
5AM – 7AM
Score 8/10 · Great

Current Conditions

🌊
Wave Height
3.2ft
0.98m open ocean · 0.72m swell
Breaking waves typically 60–80% of this
📡
Swell Period
13.3s
✓ Groundswell
💨
Wind
Glassy
N · Perfect surface ✓
🌡️
Water Temp
63°F
17°C · 2/2mm or 3/2mm wetsuit
🌊
Current Tide
-0.56ft
↓ Falling · MLLW
Best Window Today
5AM–7AM
Score 8/10 · Great

Today's Surf Timeline

Hourly surf score from 5am to 9pm. Taller bar = better conditions. Best window highlighted in teal.

5AM
8
3.2ft
6AM
8
3.2ft
7AM
7
3.2ft
8AM
7
3.2ft
9AM
7
3.3ft
10AM
7
3.3ft
11AM
8
3.3ft
12PM
8
3.3ft
1PM
8
3.3ft
2PM
8
3.3ft
3PM
8
3.3ft
4PM
8
3.3ft
5PM
8
3.3ft
6PM
8
3.3ft
7PM
8
3.3ft
8PM
8
3.3ft
9PM
8
3.3ft
Epic/Great   Good   Fair   Poor

Today's Tides

🔼
High Tide
12:33 AM
5.475 ft
🔽
Low Tide
8:15 AM
-0.765 ft
🔼
High Tide
3:29 PM
3.585 ft
🔽
Low Tide
7:51 PM
2.632 ft

Tide data from NOAA station — San Diego, California. Times shown in Pacific Time.

La Jolla Surf Guide

Break type Reef & Beach Break
Skill level Intermediate to Advanced
Best season September – December & March – May
Best swell SSW to NW, 4–10 ft, 14+ second period
Best wind Light offshore E/NE, early morning
Best tide Mid to high tide
Crowds Moderate weekdays, busy on weekends
Parking Coast Blvd street parking — free but limited. Arrive before 7:30am on weekends.

La Jolla is one of Southern California's most iconic surf destinations, offering reef breaks, point breaks, and beach breaks across a dramatic coastline north of San Diego. The reef breaks respond best to Southern Hemisphere groundswells arriving from September through December. Offshore easterly winds — most common during Santa Ana events — clean up the surface and add power to incoming sets.

Best Months to Surf La Jolla

Jan
Good
Solid NW swells, cold water, offshore winds
Feb
Good
Consistent NW groundswell season continues
Mar
Great
Mixed NW + early S swells, less crowds
Apr
Good
Transition month, variable but fun
May
Fair
Smaller surf, warmer water starting
Jun
Fair
June Gloom, small S swells building
Jul
Good
S swell season, warm water, crowded
Aug
Good
Best S swells of the year arrive
Sep
Great
S + NW combo, ideal conditions
Oct
Epic
Peak season — best month of the year
Nov
Great
Strong NW swells, offshore winds
Dec
Good
Powerful NW groundswell, cold water

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about surfing at La Jolla.

Written & reviewed by

Adam Moore

Surf Journalist & Ocean Data Specialist

Adam Moore has been surfing coastlines from Cornwall to California for over 15 years. A former marine science graduate from the University of Exeter and contributing writer for several surf publications, Adam built SurfTidal to solve a simple problem: surf forecast tools designed for data scientists, not for surfers. He believes anyone heading to the beach deserves accurate, honest, plain-English conditions — free of charge. When he's not in the water, he's analysing swell models, testing forecast accuracy, and writing the beach guides you'll find across this site.