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NauticalNickVisibility Report

La Jolla Shores

La Jolla · San Diego County · California

Today’s conditions · not a forecast

Visibility Breakdown

Updated through the day · times PT

Visibility by position

Break Zone
—
no reading yet today
Post Break
headline zone
—
no reading yet today
Open Water
—
no reading yet today

Solid = diver report · outlined = our reading

Cross-section from the sand out to open water, split into 3 visibility zones: Break Zone (0-50 ft from shore), Post Break (50-200 ft from shore), Open Water (200+ ft from shore).
Shore
Break Zone
0-50 ft from shore
Post Break
50-200 ft from shore
Open Water
200+ ft from shore

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.

7a
soon
9a
soon
10a
soon
11a
soon
1p
soon
3p
soon
5p
soon

First cam reading around 7 AM.

Did you dive today?Please share the visibility to make our algorithm more accurate.

Report visibility
Entry type
Shore
Parking
Free lot + free street parking
Spearfishing
Prohibited · MPA
Stingray risk
High
Water quality
A+ · graded Aug 21
Green flag: water open County: Open · Oct 27
D 0.4 mi away
Difficulty
Intermediate–Advanced
Popular activities
Snorkel · Dive · Surf
Today's forecast

Why it reads 8–12 ft

Updated 6:10 AM PT today · October 27, 2026
Moderate phytoplankton
Neutral
0.6 µg/L (water sample)
Moderate impact
Moderate swell
Neutral
2.4 ft
Minor swell
Short-period chop
Hurts vis
4.0 s
Moderate chop
Light wind
Helps vis
4 kt
Minor wind
Live reading cap (carried)
Hurts vis
carried forward, 13 h ago
Minor impact

Medium confidence

Ocean Oracle

7-Day Forecast

Days 2 to 7 are Pro

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.

Today · Tue
Oct 27
8–12ft
Good
Open Water 13 ft
Swell 2 ft at 4 s, wind 2 kt at 10 AM. No rain forecast.
Wed
Oct 28
14
Good
Open Water 21 ft
Thu
Oct 29
9
Fair
Open Water 14 ft
Fri
Oct 30
16
Excellent
Open Water 24 ft
Sat
Oct 31
19
Excellent
Open Water 27 ft
Sun
Nov 1
11
Good
Open Water 17 ft
Mon
Nov 2
13
Good
Open Water 20 ft
Unlock days 2 to 7
7-day forecasts come with Ocean Oracle Pro · $5/mo
Get Ocean Oracle →
Getting there

Map and parking

32.8608° N · 117.2569° W
Map of La Jolla Shores showing Kellogg Park, Camino del Oro, and Scripps Pier
Address
8200 Camino del Oro
La Jolla, CA 92037
Parking
Free lot + free street parking

The free 350-space Kellogg Park lot at the foot of Calle Frescota fills before 9 AM on summer weekends. When it's full, head for the quiet residential streets behind the Marine Room at the south end of the Shores — Spindrift Drive and the blocks climbing the hill above it hold a ton of free, unmetered street parking, a short walk from the south-end beach entry.

See the offshore water on Pelagiscape →Clarity, temperature breaks and kelp off this beach.
Field notes

About La Jolla Shores

Beach length
About 1 mile of sand
Canyon rim
About 45 ft, a short swim out
Leopard sharks
June to November, peak July to September
Protection
Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve, no take
Lifeguards
Year-round
Parking
350 free spaces, full by 9 AM on summer weekends

La Jolla Shores runs roughly 1 mile along the eastern edge of La Jolla in San Diego, a sandy crescent stretching from the sandstone bluff at the south end, where the rocks of La Jolla Cove begin, north to the base of Scripps Pier. Kellogg Park, the grass park immediately landward of the beach, holds public restrooms, a children's playground, and a permanent lifeguard observation tower at its south end that opened in 2013. The boat launch at the foot of Avenida de la Playa, at the south end of the Shores, is the only ocean-beach boat launch inside San Diego city limits. Water fronting the park sits inside the Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve.

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Pelagiscape Offshore Map

One full-screen map of the water off all of California: satellite water clarity and temperature, temperature breaks, seafloor shading, depth lines, surface kelp, Marine Protected Areas, currents, wind, and swell. Save your spots as pins and get an email when a temperature break comes near them.

7-Day Forecasts

Visibility predictions for the entire week ahead at any beach. Plan dives, schedule charters, and book trips without guessing.

Prime-Day Alerts

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Dive Log

Every entry freezes that day's report: visibility, tide, swell, wind. Log catches, stamp Personal Bests, level up your guns, and light up your species life list.

Front-Page Oracle

The Coastal Bulletin greets members with the clearest water on the coast today and their own watchlist, before a single click.

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