Ocean Beach Pier surf forecast

Ocean Beach Pier: 3 to 7 feet Sunday, waist to head high; today 3 to 5; Tuesday 3 to 4. In the water there: 2.8 ft at 6 seconds from the W (276°) and 2.5 ft at 17 seconds from the WSW (252°). The tide: high 4.2 ft at 4:46 AM, then low 2.7 ft at 9:49 AM. The pier and the sandbars either side of it.

• Sunday: 3 to 7 ft, waist to head high.
• Monday: 3 to 5 ft, waist to chest high; dawn wind offshore from the E, 5 mph.
• Tuesday: 3 to 4 ft, waist to chest high; dawn wind cross-shore from the NE, 5 mph.
• A sand break facing WNW.

How it takes a swell

The OB Pier is a long concrete pier, and its pilings hold sand on both sides under the rock slabs, so there are peaks here most days, even when the open beach to the north is closing out. A west sets up best on those bars, coming in a little across the pier; a south works too but runs along it. The shelf out front is wide and flat, which takes some of the push out of a long-period swell before it arrives. Best from small to a few feet overhead; past that it closes out and the current gets serious. Mid tide. On a combo the breaks on both sides of the pilings light up at once.

Who it's for

Intermediates and up. Crowded near the pier.

Watch out for

The pilings and the rips beside them. Black ball zones.

Getting there

The lot at the foot of Newport Avenue or next to the lifeguard station.

Also in South San Diego: Scripps Pier · La Jolla Shores · Avalanche

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