Santa Monica
Santa Monica · Los Angeles County · California
Visibility Breakdown
Visibility by position
Solid = diver report · outlined = our reading
Break Zone: The range of water where the waves break and sediment is stirred up.
Post Break: The range past where any waves are forming, where the water starts to have a significant increase in visibility. There might be some sediment here, but swell energy is diffused and the water is calmer.
Open Water: This zone is far out enough from the shore that the water is at its clearest. It’s deep enough that sediment is not disturbed by the wave energy at the surface. Haze can sit near the surface, so the water is usually clearer the deeper you go.
Through the day
Today's visibility readings at this spot, shown at the hour each one was taken.
Every bar is a reading for the Post Break zone.
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Coastal Bulletin
About Santa Monica
Current notices
Why it reads 12–16 ft
Medium confidence
7-Day Forecast
Today is the live headline above. Tomorrow onward is the algorithm's forecast from predicted swell, wind, and rain, updated each morning and at 6 PM Pacific.
Map and parking
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Paid municipal lots at the foot of Colorado Avenue beneath the Santa Monica Pier and along Pacific Coast Highway north of the pier, hourly rates plus a daily cap. Metered street parking on Ocean Avenue. The pier deck has a separate paid lot.
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See the offshore water on Pelagiscape →Clarity, temperature breaks and kelp off this beach.
About Santa Monica
Santa Monica is a coastal city in western Los Angeles County with a wide sand shoreline fronting Santa Monica Bay. The defining structure is Santa Monica Pier, a double-jointed wooden pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue. The original Municipal Pier section opened in 1909, and the adjoining Pleasure Pier section was added in 1916; the two were later joined into the single double-jointed structure standing today, running roughly 1,600 feet from the shore. The Pleasure Pier section carries Pacific Park, a small amusement park whose Ferris wheel is operated as the world's first solar-powered Ferris wheel. A sign at the base of the pier marks the western terminus of Historic Route 66. The surrounding shoreline is part of Santa Monica State Beach, a 3.5-mile state beach unit running from the Annenberg Community Beach House at the north end to the Venice city border at the south, with lifeguard service operated by Los Angeles County.
Species found here
Researched habitat and range candidates. A listed species may be seasonal or depth-limited; this is not a confirmed sighting at this location.
Spot strategies
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