Surf Forecast  El Capitan State Beach

El Capitan State Beach surfspot characteristics

More about El Capitan State Beach surfspot

Notoriously rare and fickle, hollow, well-shaped righthand point. Extremely crowded with some nasty locals. Tense vibes in the water. Outsiders are easily recognized and are not welcomed. Only breaks during a big, solid W swell and low to mid tide. Can be decent but fat with a high tide during the biggest of swells. There is a rocky beachbreak in front of the parking lot, best with windswells and higher tides. It has not been good in recent years. Rarely surfed.

General: El Capitan breaks so seldom that you begin to wonder if it's even a surf spot, but El Cap does get damn good. The setup is another dreamy Santa Barbara righthand point. El Cap only lifts a finger but a handful of times (if that) each autumn and winter season. It needs large W swells with just the right tide and wind to offer those fabled, roping, righthand barrels. Sitting deep and risking the unmakeable section will probably thrust you into the boulders, resulting in a barnacle massage. Tides: low Size: head-high to double overhead Wind: NE, N Swell: a big, clean W or WSW, preferably a swell period less than 15 seconds Bottom: Rock and sand Paddling: Not bad when it is small, plenty of work to be had when it is pumping. Spot Rating: Regional classic.

Advanced

Exit 101 at the park's signed off-ramp. Go left under the bridge and head toward the kiosk. You can find your way from there.

October-February

Crowd Factor: It's a scarce, precious resource: think a major frenzied crowd. Local Vibe: Medium, but a lot of folks will go without looking anyway.

Pleasant camping is available for the hopeful at this low-consistency gem. If only they’d those islands out of the way!

Pretty clean unless it just rained.

Drop-ins, sharp boulders on the point, sand-sucking pits.