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🇺🇸 San Clemente, California

Trestles Surf Report

Live conditions · Updated every 30 minutes · Always free

Last updated: 3:30 AM PDT · Data may be delayed
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 · 0.64m swell
Breaking waves typically 60–80% of this
📡
Swell Period
13.6s
✓ Groundswell
💨
Wind
Glassy
N · Perfect surface ✓
🌡️
Water Temp
61°F
16°C · 2/2mm or 3/2mm wetsuit
🌊
Current Tide
2ft
↑ 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
2.5ft
6AM
8
2.5ft
7AM
7
2.6ft
8AM
8
2.6ft
9AM
8
2.6ft
10AM
8
2.6ft
11AM
8
2.6ft
12PM
8
2.6ft
1PM
8
2.6ft
2PM
8
2.6ft
3PM
8
2.6ft
4PM
8
2.6ft
5PM
8
2.6ft
6PM
8
2.6ft
7PM
8
2.7ft
8PM
8
2.7ft
9PM
8
2.7ft
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 — San Clemente, California. Times shown in Pacific Time.

Trestles Surf Guide

Break type Point & Beach Break
Skill level All levels (Lower Trestles: Advanced)
Best season June – October
Best swell S to SSW, 3–8 ft, 16+ second period
Best wind Offshore NE/E, early morning
Best tide Incoming mid tide
Crowds Very heavy — world-class wave attracts everyone
Parking Free at San Onofre State Beach — 20-minute walk to the break.

Trestles is California's crown jewel — a wave so consistently excellent that it hosts WSL Championship Tour events and draws professional surfers from around the globe. Located within San Onofre State Beach in San Clemente, Trestles comprises several distinct breaks, with Lower Trestles being the most famous and Uppers offering a more accessible alternative.

What makes Trestles exceptional is its cobblestone bottom, which creates an unusually predictable and perfectly shaped wave that works across a wide range of conditions. Southern Hemisphere groundswells arriving from June through October are Trestles' lifeblood — the swell wraps around the point and produces both left and right-hand waves with the kind of long, open faces that allow surfers to generate serious speed.

The walk from parking is a non-negotiable 20 minutes each way through the state park. Early morning sessions before 8am offer the best combination of offshore winds, manageable crowds, and optimal tide.

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.