Venice Beach • Surf Spot Statistics

Best Surf Season (November - March)

The North Pacific winter storm track roars to life in November and stays active through March, and Venice Beach is well positioned to catch the energy. Lows tracking south of the Gulf of Alaska fire long-period W and WSW swells down the California coast, and the southwest-facing sandbars light up with clean, rideable surf. The average swell height sits around 2.5-3ft (0.8-0.9m) with periods of 11.7-12.4s, and the gold is in the wind: northeasterly to easterly offshore flows, including Santa Ana events, keep the surface glassy 49-55% of the time. Cool air and winter rain are a small price to pay for the most consistent quality of the year.

Fair Surf Season (April - May & September - October)

These shoulder months are a mixed bag. The ocean still holds plenty of 12-second W/WSW groundswell, but the North Pacific storm track weakens through spring and the daily southwest sea breeze becomes more dominant, dropping ideal wind percentages into the 29-40% range. Autumn is a little cleaner than late spring as the first extratropical lows stir the Pacific, but wave heights are generally modest and you have to pick the morning windows or the days after a storm. Expect fun 2-4ft (0.5-1.2m) surf with occasional bigger pulses.

Low Surf Season (June - August)

Summer gets a bad rap here for good reason. The average swell height only slips to 2.6ft (0.8m), but the long-period swells from SW/WSW are very small, and the prevailing west-southwest wind turns the surface bumpy a majority of the time. Ideal wind drops to just 22-26%, meaning cleaner dawn patrols are rare. The redeeming feature is the water temperature warming to 16.7-17.0°C and dry, sunny weather, but this is longboard and groveler territory rather than epic Venice Beach waves.