Trestles surf forecast

Trestles: 6 to 10 feet Sunday, shoulder to well overhead; today 6 to 8; Tuesday 5 to 7. In the water there: 3.2 ft at 17 seconds from the SW (215°) and 2.5 ft at 6 seconds from the WSW (247°). The tide: high 4.2 ft at 4:46 AM, then low 2.7 ft at 9:49 AM. Church, Lowers, Middles and Uppers: cobblestone points at the San Mateo Creek mouth, a long walk in from the freeway. Lowers is at its best on a south swell, and crowded.

  • Sunday: 6 to 10 ft, shoulder to well overhead.
  • Monday: 6 to 8 ft, head high to overhead; dawn wind cross-shore from the E, 5 mph.
  • Tuesday: 5 to 7 ft, shoulder to head high; dawn wind offshore from the N, 5 mph.
  • A reef break facing SSW.

How it takes a swell

Trestles is a south-swell machine. The cobble San Mateo Creek has pushed out sits at just the angle a long-period south or south-southwest wants, so the swell wraps onto it and lines up into Lowers' A-frame and long walls instead of closing out across sand. That's why it stands out from the beaches either side on a summer groundswell: the point, not the shelf, which is as wide and flat here as anywhere north of the South Bay. The farther west the swell comes from, the less of it gets in: San Clemente Island and Catalina sit in the way, and the point itself likes the south angle, so a winter west shows best at Uppers and Cottons and softer at Lowers. On a short-period windswell the cobble's edge mostly goes, and Trestles reads closer to the beaches around it. It holds into the double overhead range on a big south. Mid tide is the sweet spot.

Who it's for

Lowers is crowded with the best surfers in the county and a pro or two, and the lineup has an order. Uppers and Middles are friendlier for intermediates.

Watch out for

The crowd, loose boards and the cobbles at low tide. The creek mouth after rain: stay out for 72 hours. Camp Pendleton starts south of Church.

Getting there

Park in the state beach lot at the end of Cristianitos Road (a fee) and walk the trail under the freeway.

Also in North County San Diego: Del Mar

Surf from CDIP's nearshore points, wind from NOAA's HRRR and the National Weather Service, tides from NOAA. About · Privacy