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Home/Locations/Oregon/North Coast/Cape Lookout South Face

Cape Lookout South Face

Cape Lookout · North Coast · Oregon

Spearfishing here is conditional
The short answer is Legal · ODFW rules (Cape Lookout MCA). The exact rule, who enforces it, and what it covers are written out in the field notes below.
Diver reports today · zones from today’s forecast

Visibility Breakdown

Updated through the day · times PT

Visibility by position

Post Break
headline zone
11ft
today’s forecast
Open Water
13ft
today’s forecast

Solid = diver report · outlined = today's forecast

Cross-section from the sand out to open water, split into 2 visibility zones: Post Break (0-200 ft from shore), Open Water (200+ ft from shore).
Shore
Post Break
0-200 ft from shore
Open Water
200+ ft from shore

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.

This chart shows measured diver reports only.

No measured readings today

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

Report visibility
Entry type
Boat
Spearfishing
Legal · ODFW rules (Cape Lookout MCA)
Difficulty
Advanced
Popular activities
Scuba · Spearfishing
Today's forecast

Why it reads 9–13 ft

Updated 6:10 AM PT today · October 27, 2026
Regional clarity baseline
Neutral
30ft
Moderate impact
Moderate swell
Hurts vis
3.0 ft
Minor swell
Moderate wind
Hurts vis
12 kt
Moderate wind
Moderate rain 2d ago
Hurts vis
0.33" 2d ago
Moderate rain
Active rain
Hurts vis
rain
Moderate rain

Today's forecast runs

6 AM
11ft
Morning run
10 AM
—
Pending
1 PM
—
Pending

Dawn is the clearest window. A late-morning onshore builds surface chop and gives up a few feet by the afternoon.

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
9–13ft
Good
Open Water 13 ft
Swell 5 ft at 6 s, wind 8 kt at 10 AM. Rain forecast, 0.5 in.
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
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Getting there

Map and parking

45.3346° N · 124.0051° W
Map of Cape Lookout South Face
Address
Tillamook County, OR
Field notes

About Cape Lookout South Face

Cape Lookout is a basalt headland roughly 2 miles long that projects about 1.5 miles into the Pacific southwest of Tillamook. On its south side, the cliff base drops to the dive area below sea cliffs rising to about 200 feet. Access is boat only; there is no shore route to the south face. Divers commonly launch small boats from the Netarts Bay Boat Ramp and round the south end of the Netarts spit, or charter out of Garibaldi to the north. Bull kelp anchors at about 15 feet along the base of the cliff and grows up through the water column to the surface, and surge below the site has been documented to 50 feet.

From the Nautilids who hunt it

Spot strategies

Ocean Oracle Pro
Unlock spot strategies
How other Nautilids actually hunt Cape Lookout South Face: the biome they worked, the gear, the tide and time of day, and what they were after.
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