Home All Beaches Pismo Beach
🇺🇸 San Luis Obispo County, California

Pismo Beach Surf Report

Live conditions · Updated every 30 minutes · Always free

Last updated: 4:30 PM PDT
7 /10
Great Conditions
Sunday, August 23, 2026

Great surf today. head high waves (4.1ft), glassy conditions, incoming tide. Consistent and clean — well worth the session.

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

Current Conditions

🌊
Wave Height
4.1ft
1.26m open ocean · 1.04m swell
Breaking waves typically 60–80% of this
📡
Swell Period
5.2s
Wind swell
💨
Wind
Glassy
N · Perfect surface ✓
🌡️
Water Temp
61°F
16°C · 2/2mm or 3/2mm wetsuit
🌊
Current Tide
3.97ft
↑ Rising · MLLW
Best Window Today
5AM–7AM
Score 7/10 · Great

Today's Surf Timeline

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

5AM
7
4.4ft
6AM
7
4.4ft
7AM
7
4.3ft
8AM
7
4.3ft
9AM
7
4.3ft
10AM
7
4.3ft
11AM
7
4.2ft
12PM
7
4.2ft
1PM
7
4.1ft
2PM
7
4.1ft
3PM
7
4.1ft
4PM
7
4.1ft
5PM
7
4.1ft
6PM
6
4.1ft
7PM
6
4.1ft
8PM
7
4.1ft
9PM
7
4.1ft
Epic/Great   Good   Fair   Poor

Today's Tides

🔽
Low Tide
2:29 AM
0.256 ft
🔼
High Tide
9:31 AM
3.723 ft
🔽
Low Tide
1:32 PM
3.07 ft
🔼
High Tide
7:36 PM
5.289 ft

Tide data from NOAA station — San Luis Obispo County, California. Times shown in Pacific Time.

Pismo Beach Surf Guide

Break type Beach Break
Skill level Beginner to Intermediate
Best season October – April
Best swell NW to WNW, 4–8 ft
Best wind Offshore NE/E, morning
Best tide Mid tide
Crowds Light — Central Coast gem
Parking Paid lot at Pismo State Beach — very accessible.

Pismo Beach sits on the Central Coast between Santa Barbara and Monterey — a stretch of California that most surfers drive through on their way elsewhere. That's their loss. Pismo's beach break is forgiving, consistent, and refreshingly uncrowded compared to the breaks of SoCal and Santa Cruz. The NW swell window is Pismo's sweet spot, with the beach facing WSW to capture groundswells efficiently. Offshore mornings — most common in autumn and early winter — produce clean, well-shaped peaks across a wide stretch of open beach. The town itself is everything a surf trip should be: affordable, unpretentious, and focused on the ocean.

Best Months to Surf Pismo Beach

Jan
Great
Powerful NW swells, light crowds, offshore mornings
Feb
Good
Consistent NW, cold but excellent
Mar
Good
Spring transition — variable but fun
Apr
Good
Clean conditions, light crowds
May
Fair
Swells tapering, afternoon onshores
Jun
Fair
Fog season, small surf
Jul
Fair
Inconsistent, foggy — off season
Aug
Fair
Small to flat, warm inland weather
Sep
Good
NW swells returning, offshore conditions
Oct
Great
Season opener — excellent NW potential
Nov
Great
Prime NW swell season — best month
Dec
Good
Solid NW surf, cold and uncrowded

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about surfing at Pismo Beach.

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.