Home All Beaches Salt Creek Beach
🇺🇸 Dana Point, California

Salt Creek Beach Surf Report

Live conditions · Updated every 30 minutes · Always free

Last updated: 8:00 AM PDT
8 /10
Great Conditions
Sunday, April 5, 2026

Great surf today. knee to thigh high waves (2.4ft), glassy conditions, incoming tide. Consistent and clean — well worth the session.

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

Current Conditions

🌊
Wave Height
2.4ft
0.74m open ocean · 0.66m swell
Breaking waves typically 60–80% of this
📡
Swell Period
13.3s
✓ Groundswell
💨
Wind
Glassy
N · Perfect surface ✓
🌡️
Water Temp
61°F
16°C · 2/2mm or 3/2mm wetsuit
🌊
Current Tide
1ft
↑ Rising · 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
2.4ft
6AM
8
2.4ft
7AM
7
2.4ft
8AM
8
2.4ft
9AM
8
2.4ft
10AM
8
2.4ft
11AM
8
2.4ft
12PM
8
2.4ft
1PM
8
2.5ft
2PM
8
2.5ft
3PM
8
2.5ft
4PM
8
2.6ft
5PM
8
2.6ft
6PM
8
2.6ft
7PM
8
2.6ft
8PM
8
2.6ft
9PM
8
2.6ft
Epic/Great   Good   Fair   Poor

Today's Tides

🔽
Low Tide
6:05 AM
0.048 ft
🔼
High Tide
12:22 PM
3.164 ft
🔽
Low Tide
4:54 PM
2.008 ft
🔼
High Tide
11:22 PM
5.078 ft

Tide data from NOAA station — Dana Point, California. Times shown in Pacific Time.

Salt Creek Beach Surf Guide

Break type Beach & Reef Break
Skill level Beginner to Advanced
Best season September – November & March – May
Best swell SW to NW, 3–6 ft
Best wind Early morning offshore E
Best tide Mid tide
Crowds Moderate — less intense than Trestles
Parking Paid parking at Salt Creek Beach Park — arrive early.

Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point delivers a reliable, accessible surf experience that sits in the shadow of nearby Trestles but offers a genuinely excellent alternative — particularly for surfers who want quality waves without a 20-minute hike and a packed professional lineup.

The beach break section serves up consistent peaks on almost any swell, making it a solid choice for intermediate surfers. Further south, a reef section produces more defined, hollow waves that reward experienced surfers during solid SW and NW swells.

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.