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Santa Barbara — Rincon Point Surf Report

Live conditions · Updated every 30 minutes · Always free

Last updated: 12:30 PM PDT
7 /10
Great Conditions
Friday, October 9, 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 7/10 · Great

Current Conditions

🌊
Wave Height
3.2ft
0.98m open ocean · 0.72m swell
Breaking waves typically 60–80% of this
📡
Swell Period
9.3s
Mixed swell
💨
Wind
Glassy
N · Perfect surface ✓
🌡️
Water Temp
64°F
18°C · 2/2mm or 3/2mm wetsuit
🌊
Current Tide
3.46ft
↓ Falling · 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
3.1ft
6AM
7
3.1ft
7AM
7
3.1ft
8AM
6
3.1ft
9AM
6
3.1ft
10AM
6
3.2ft
11AM
7
3.2ft
12PM
7
3.2ft
1PM
7
3.2ft
2PM
7
3.2ft
3PM
7
3.3ft
4PM
7
3.3ft
5PM
7
3.4ft
6PM
7
3.4ft
7PM
7
3.5ft
8PM
7
3.5ft
9PM
7
3.5ft
■ Epic/Great   ■ Good   ■ Fair   ■ Poor

Today's Tides

🔽
Low Tide
3:05 AM
0.566 ft
🔼
High Tide
9:19 AM
5.708 ft
🔽
Low Tide
3:40 PM
0.393 ft
🔼
High Tide
9:43 PM
4.963 ft

Tide data from NOAA station — Santa Barbara, California. Times shown in Pacific Time.

Santa Barbara — Rincon Point Surf Guide

Break type Point Break
Skill level Intermediate to Advanced
Best season November – March
Best swell NW, 6–15 ft, 14+ second period
Best wind Offshore E/NE (Santa Ana), early morning
Best tide Mid tide
Crowds Very heavy on good swells — "The Queen of the Coast" draws its royal court
Parking Small free lot at the point — extremely limited. Street parking on Bates Road.

Rincon Point — "The Queen of the Coast" — is widely regarded as the finest right-hand point break in California and one of the top point breaks in the world. Located on the Ventura–Santa Barbara county line, Rincon transforms on big NW groundswells into a long, perfectly tapering right-hander with three distinct sections: The Indicator, The Cove, and The River Mouth. When all three sections connect on a large, long-period NW swell with offshore Santa Ana winds, Rincon produces rides of 400 metres or more — rare in California surf. The prime season runs November through March when NW groundswells arrive with regularity. Santa Ana wind events — dry, warm offshore winds blowing from the northeast — are Rincon's magic ingredient, ironing the surface to glass and adding punch to incoming sets.

Best Months to Surf Santa Barbara — Rincon Point

Jan
Epic
Peak NW swell season — Rincon at full power
Feb
Epic
Powerful NW groundswells, Santa Ana potential
Mar
Great
NW swells continue, slightly smaller
Apr
Good
Transition — still solid NW potential
May
Fair
NW swells tapering, smaller surf
Jun
Fair
Small, inconsistent — off season
Jul
Fair
Flat to small — avoid
Aug
Fair
Small S swells, not Rincon's forte
Sep
Good
Early NW swells arriving, crowds thinning
Oct
Great
Santa Ana winds, first big NW swells
Nov
Epic
Season opens — big NW swells begin
Dec
Epic
One of the best months of the year

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about surfing at Santa Barbara — Rincon Point.

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.