Scripps Beach Surf Report

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How to Read the Surf Report

If you already surf, skip ahead. If you are learning, these four numbers tell you most of what you need to know.

Wave Height and Period

The wave height shown is what the buoy measures offshore: the average of the biggest third of waves passing under it. Sets on the beach can run a bit bigger. Period is the number of seconds between waves. Under 10 seconds usually means wind swell. Twelve seconds and up means organized groundswell with more push and better shape.

Wind

Wind makes or breaks a session at Scripps. Light wind, or wind from the east blowing offshore, grooms the wave faces clean. A west wind blows straight onshore and crumbles everything. Mornings are usually your best window.

Tides

Like most San Diego beach breaks, Scripps tends to surf best from low to mid tide, especially on an incoming push. A high tide over five feet often fattens the waves out, and an extreme low can make them dump on the inside.

The Surf Quality Rating

The quality scale blends all of the above: period, wind, wave size, and tide. A glassy morning with long-period swell will read Good or better. A blown-out, high-tide afternoon will read Poor. Calibrating the surf rating is the trickiest part. We'll be dialing it in over time as we compare it to real sessions.

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Where This Surf Data Comes From

Everything on this page comes from public scientific instruments, most of them within sight of the lineup.

• Tides and water temperature come from NOAA tide station 9410230, mounted on the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier itself. The pier, built in 1916 and stretching 1,084 feet, is one of the largest research piers in the world, and it has recorded some of the longest-running ocean observations anywhere.
• Wave height, period, and swell direction come from CDIP Buoy 201, the Scripps Nearshore buoy, floating just over half a mile off the pier. It is run by the Coastal Data Information Program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
• Wind comes from the Open-Meteo weather model for the beach itself.
• Water quality testing is done weekly, year-round, by the County of San Diego and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

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Why a Law Firm Built a Surf Report

We live and surf here, and we wanted a simple, free surf report for one of our favorite spots.

​Hulburt Law Firm is a San Diego personal injury firm based downtown, a short drive from La Jolla.

We hope you only ever know us as the firm with the surf report. But if you or someone you love is ever seriously hurt because of someone else's carelessness, we are here. Call (619) 821-0500 or message us through our contact form for a free, confidential case review.

See you in the water.

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