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Santa Monica Beach

Santa Monica, California· Southern California Coast

A broad, gently sloping beach sheltered by Point Dume and the Palos Verdes peninsula, so surf here is usually smaller than at more exposed Orange County breaks. That shelter, plus the wide shallows, makes it one of the easier places in Los Angeles County to swim.

Updated Sep 25,

Right now · Beach Day

Fair for beach day — overcast

Fair
Feels like
70°FExcellentComfortable beach temperatures
Wind
2 mphExcellentLight wind
Rain chance
0%ExcellentLittle chance of rain
Surf
2.3 ftGoodModerate shore break
Sky
90%FairOvercast

Activity conditions

What Santa Monica Beach is good for right now

Each activity is rated by its worst relevant condition, not an average.

Best time windows

When to go over the next two days

Windows come from the hourly forecast, so they get less certain further out.

Beach Day

  • Fri 8 AM – 11 AMFairFair for beach day — overcast
  • Fri 11 AM – 5 PMGoodGood for beach day — gentle breeze
  • Fri 5 PM – 7 PMFairFair for beach day — overcast
  • Sat 11 AM – 5 PMGoodGood for beach day — gentle breeze
Hourly outlook for Beach Day from 8:00 AM to 7:00 AM

Fri 8 AMSun 7 AM

Beachcombing

  • Fri 11 AM – 1 PMFairFair for beachcombing — higher water leaves a narrow beach
  • Fri 4 PM – 7 PMFairFair for beachcombing — rising tide is covering the low beach
  • Sat 1 PM – 3 PMGoodGood for beachcombing — moderate tide with some beach exposed
  • Sat 4 PM – 7 PMFairFair for beachcombing — rising tide is covering the low beach
Hourly outlook for Beachcombing from 8:00 AM to 7:00 AM

Fri 8 AMSun 7 AM

Current conditions

Patchy Fog

Air temperature
70°FForecastNational Weather Service· NWS LOX forecast grid
Wind
2 mphfrom the WSWForecastNational Weather Service· NWS LOX forecast grid
Water temperature
73°FObservedNOAA NDBC· Topanga Nearshore, CA (103) · 4.7 mi away
Surf
2.3 ft13 s periodObservedNOAA NDBC· Topanga Nearshore, CA (103) · 4.7 mi away
Chance of rain
0%ForecastNational Weather Service· NWS LOX forecast grid
Cloud cover
90%ForecastNational Weather Service· NWS LOX forecast grid

Tide

Tide at Santa Monica, Municipal Pier

Heights are relative to MLLW, the NOAA chart datum for this station.

Now

Rising

Observed water level

5.2 ft

Today

  • Low 3:01 AM 0.3 ft
  • High 9:13 AM 5.2 ft
  • Low 3:09 PM 0.9 ft
  • High 9:13 PM 5.5 ft

Sat

  • Low 3:25 AM 0.5 ft
  • High 9:35 AM 5.6 ft
  • Low 3:47 PM 0.5 ft
  • High 9:51 PM 5.2 ft

Sun

  • Low 3:49 AM 0.8 ft
  • High 10:00 AM 5.9 ft
  • Low 4:28 PM 0.2 ft
  • High 10:33 PM 4.8 ft

Mon

  • Low 4:15 AM 1.2 ft
  • High 10:29 AM 6.1 ft
  • Low 5:13 PM 0.1 ft
  • High 11:21 PM 4.3 ft

Predictions from NOAA CO-OPS station 9410840.

Weather

Forecast

  • Today79°FPatchy Fog0%
  • Tonight69°FPatchy Fog0%
  • Saturday79°FPatchy Fog then Mostly Cloudy1%
  • Saturday Night69°FPatchy Fog1%
  • Sunday78°FPatchy Fog then Mostly Sunny2%
  • Sunday Night66°FPatchy Fog5%
  • Monday76°FPatchy Fog then Mostly Sunny3%
  • Monday Night66°FMostly Clear4%
  • Tuesday82°FSunny4%
  • Tuesday Night68°FMostly Clear2%
  • Wednesday82°FSunny2%
  • Wednesday Night68°FMostly Clear0%
  • Thursday81°FSunny0%
  • Thursday Night68°FPartly Cloudy0%

Waves

Surf

Wave height

2.3 ft

ObservedNOAA NDBC· Topanga Nearshore, CA (103) · 4.7 mi away

Period

13 s

Longer periods carry more energy and break harder.

Direction

SSW

Water temperature

Water

73°F

ObservedNOAA NDBC· Topanga Nearshore, CA (103) · 4.7 mi away

Measured at the station above, which may sit some distance from the shore break. Surface temperature at the beach can differ.

Additional data

Daylight and data sources

Sunrise
6:43 AM
Sunset
6:47 PM
Humidity
82%
Time zone
America/Los_Angeles
Coordinates
34.0094, -118.4973

Stations used for this location

  • Tides — NOAA CO-OPS Santa Monica, Municipal Pier (9410840), 0.2 mi away
  • Weather — National Weather Service grid LOX 146,45
  • Buoy — NDBC Topanga Nearshore, CA (103) (46268), 4.7 mi offshore; this buoy does not report wind
  • Water temperature fallback — NOAA CO-OPS Santa Monica (9410840), 0.2 mi away; used only when the buoy has no reading

Jots

Notes from Santa Monica Beach

Short, dated notes from people who were actually there.

No jots yet

Nobody has jotted a trip to Santa Monica Beach. Jots are short notes about what the conditions were really like — coming soon.

Learn about jots

Nearby

Other spots along this coast