Home All Beaches Tofino — Cox Bay
🇨🇦 Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Tofino — Cox Bay Surf Report

Live conditions · Updated every 30 minutes · Always free

Last updated: 9:00 PM PDT
7 /10
Great Conditions
Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Great surf today. overhead waves (5.5ft), glassy conditions, outgoing tide. Consistent and clean — well worth the session.

⏱ Best time to paddle out
3PM – 5PM
Score 7/10 · Great

Current Conditions

🌊
Wave Height
5.5ft
1.68m open ocean · 1.64m swell
Breaking waves typically 60–80% of this
📡
Swell Period
7.5s
Wind swell
💨
Wind
Glassy
N · Perfect surface ✓
🌡️
Water Temp
50°F
10°C · 4/3mm wetsuit + boots
🌊
Current Tide
2ft
↓ Falling · MLLW
Best Window Today
3PM–5PM
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
6
6.6ft
6AM
6
6.6ft
7AM
6
6.5ft
8AM
6
6.5ft
9AM
6
6.4ft
10AM
6
6.4ft
11AM
6
6.4ft
12PM
6
6.2ft
1PM
6
6.2ft
2PM
6
6ft
3PM
7
6ft
4PM
7
5.8ft
5PM
7
5.8ft
6PM
7
5.7ft
7PM
7
5.6ft
8PM
7
5.6ft
9PM
7
5.5ft
Epic/Great   Good   Fair   Poor

Tofino — Cox Bay Surf Guide

Break type Beach Break
Skill level All levels
Best season September – April
Best swell NW to SW, 4–10 ft, 14+ second period
Best wind Offshore E/SE
Best tide Mid tide
Crowds Light to moderate — space is rarely an issue
Parking Cox Bay Beach Resort parking — small fee, year-round access.

Tofino is Canada's surf capital — a remote, breathtakingly beautiful town on the west coast of Vancouver Island that receives some of the most powerful and consistent surf on the entire Pacific coast of North America. Surrounded by old-growth rainforest, Pacific Rim National Park, and the open North Pacific Ocean, Tofino delivers a surf experience unlike anywhere else on the continent.

Cox Bay is Tofino's most surf-friendly beach — wide and open, catching North Pacific groundswells and producing consistent beach break peaks across a wide range of skill levels. The long stretch of exposed sand means there is almost always room to find your own peak, even during the busiest summer weekends.

The North Pacific swell season runs September through April. Water temperatures hover between 8°C in winter and 14°C in summer — a 5/4mm wetsuit, hood, gloves and boots are non-negotiable from October through April. In summer, a 3/2mm is comfortable for most sessions. Several excellent surf schools operate in Tofino year-round and the town has embraced surf culture fully — gear hire, coffee, and whale watching tours are all within walking distance.

Best Months to Surf Tofino — Cox Bay

Jan
Great
Powerful NW groundswell, very cold, uncrowded
Feb
Great
Consistent North Pacific swell season
Mar
Good
Swells still solid, spring approaching
Apr
Good
Spring transition, reliable swell
May
Fair
Swell easing, summer crowds building
Jun
Fair
Small and inconsistent, tourist season peaks
Jul
Fair
Warmest water, smallest surf
Aug
Fair
Peak tourist month, small swells
Sep
Great
NW swells return, crowds dropping fast
Oct
Epic
Best month — powerful surf, empty lineups
Nov
Great
Strong consistent groundswell, cold and raw
Dec
Great
Powerful winter surf, serious cold
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.