San Francisco.
Now
· updated 14 hours agoThursday peaks at 2m from the south-southwest at 16-17 seconds under light northwest wind, fading to 1.5m by evening. The south-southwest swell holds through the weekend under light south-southwest wind, slowly easing to 1m by Sunday. A fresh southwest pulse builds Monday through Wednesday, reaching 1.1m at 18-20 seconds under light west-northwest wind. Looks like Thursday dawn under light northwest wind will be the best window.
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About San Francisco
San Francisco surfing comes down to three waves at the mouth of the bay. Ocean Beach runs 5.6 km of open-coast beach break from Cliff House south to Sloat. Fort Point is a left under the Golden Gate Bridge, peeling off the Presidio rocks when the swell wraps through the Gate. Mavericks is half an hour south at Pillar Point, a deep-water reef that fires only on the biggest winter swells. Kelly Slater won his eleventh world title at Ocean Beach in 2011, the only mainland US final on the modern tour.
This is a winter coast. The North Pacific storm track delivers west to northwest swell from November through March. Ocean Beach needs 12 s to work, Mavericks 14 s. Heights run 0.8 to 4 m on the buoy at the beachies, 5 m+ when Mavs is on. The classic offshore is east; the afternoon westerly breaks the wave apart. Summer drops to small wind swell, and the fog rolls in for weeks.
Water sits at 13 °C every month of the year. A 4/3 with hood and booties from October through June. Crowds spread across kilometres, but the rip at the inlet throat exceeds 2.5 m/s and will pull you out before you notice. The 1998 winter killed seven people in the water. White sharks pass through. Mavericks is expert only in practice. Pick the spot for the day: Fort Point on the wraps, Ocean Beach on the angle, Mavs only when you’ve earned it.