Shelter Cove · Humboldt County · California
Big Flat Surf Report & Forecast, Shelter Cove, California
Big Flat, Shelter Cove, California: 7–9 ft, overhead to well overhead, at 12 pm PST on Monday, Nov 9, rated Good. The main swell is 6.8 ft at 13 seconds from the west, with a 9 mph cross-shore wind from the south-southeast, gusting 15 mph. Water is about 63°F, so a 3/2 full wetsuit is the suggestion; the next low tide is -0.2 ft at 5:24 pm.
7–9 ft
overhead to well overhead · occasional 10 ft
- Swell
- 6.8 ft · 13 s · W
- Wind
- 9 mph (SSE), gusts 15cross-shore
- Tide
- 6.1 ft fallinglow -0.2 ft at 5:24 pm
- Water
- 63°F3/2
- Air
- 60°Ffeels like 55°F
- Sun
- rise 6:55 amset 5:05 pm
Big Flat surf today and tomorrow
Best-rated hour today at Big Flat: 6 am, Great, on a rising mid tide.
Blue band: surf face height from the low end to set waves; dotted: occasional larger sets. Grey line: tide, in feet on the right scale. Colour strip: the hourly rating. Arrows: wind direction and strength, teal when offshore, orange when onshore.
Best-rated hour tomorrow at Big Flat: 10 am, Great, on a rising high tide.
Hour by hour as a table, today and tomorrow
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 8–9 ft | Great | 7 mph cross-shore (ESE), gusts 13 | 4.1 ft |
| 7 am | 7–9 ft | Good | 8 mph cross-shore (SE), gusts 14 | 5.0 ft |
| 8 am | 8–9 ft | Good | 8 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 15 | 5.9 ft |
| 9 am | 8–9 ft | Good | 9 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 15 | 6.7 ft |
| 10 am | 7–9 ft | Good | 9 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 15 | 7.1 ft |
| 11 am | 7–8 ft | Fair | 9 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 16 | 6.9 ft |
| 12 pmnow | 7–8 ft | Fair | 9 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 17 | 6.1 ft |
| 1 pm | 6–7 ft | Fair | 9 mph cross-shore (S), gusts 16 | 4.8 ft |
| 2 pm | 7–8 ft | Fair | 7 mph cross-shore (S), gusts 14 | 3.2 ft |
| 3 pm | 7–8 ft | Good | 6 mph cross-shore (S), gusts 12 | 1.6 ft |
| 4 pm | 7–8 ft | Good | 6 mph cross-shore (S), gusts 11 | 0.5 ft |
| 5 pm | 7–8 ft | Good | 5 mph cross-shore (S) | -0.1 ft |
| 6 pm | 7–8 ft | Good | 5 mph cross-shore (SSE) | -0.1 ft |
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 7–8 ft | Great | 4 mph cross-shore (ESE) | 3.8 ft |
| 7 am | 6–7 ft | Good | 4 mph cross-shore (ESE) | 4.5 ft |
| 8 am | 6–8 ft | Great | 4 mph cross-shore (E) | 5.4 ft |
| 9 am | 7–8 ft | Great | 4 mph cross-shore (ESE) | 6.3 ft |
| 10 am | 7–8 ft | Great | 4 mph cross-shore (SE) | 6.9 ft |
| 11 am | 7–8 ft | Good | 4 mph cross-shore (S) | 7.0 ft |
| 12 pm | 6–8 ft | Good | 4 mph onshore (SSW), gusts 9 | 6.5 ft |
| 1 pm | 6–7 ft | Good | 4 mph onshore (SSW) | 5.4 ft |
| 2 pm | 6–7 ft | Good | calm | 4.0 ft |
| 3 pm | 6–7 ft | Good | calm | 2.5 ft |
| 4 pm | 6–7 ft | Good | calm | 1.1 ft |
| 5 pm | 6–8 ft | Great | calm | 0.1 ft |
| 6 pm | 6–8 ft | Good | calm | -0.2 ft |
Big Flat waves today: sets, lulls and how they break
At 12 pm, sets at Big Flat arrive about every 5 minutes with about 4 waves each, and the waves are mostly spilling and crumbly.
- Set waves
- about 8.7 ft faces
- Waves per set
- about 4
- Sets
- every 5 minutes or so, each lasting about 38 s
- Lulls
- about 140 s between breaking waves
- How they break
- Spillingwhich means soft, crumbling whitewater
- Shape
- Crumblywhich means whitewater rolls gently down the face
- Breaking
- 53% of waves stand up and break where surfers sitThe rest roll through.
- Along-shore current
- strong, about 1.7 mphThis is not a rip current forecast. For rip current risk, see the National Weather Service.
Big Flat surf this weekend and the next 10 days
Next 10 days at Big Flat: the biggest day is Saturday, Nov 14 at 10–13 ft, and the best-rated day is Monday, Nov 16 (Great). This weekend: Saturday, Nov 14, 10–13 ft and Poor to Fair; Sunday, Nov 15, 7–10 ft and Fair.
Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24
Days 11–16 for Big Flat are in the Current app with a Premium subscription.
Bars: surf face height from the low end to set waves, by day. Colour strip: the day's best rating. Arrows: main swell direction. Shaded: this weekend.
The 10-day forecast as a table, with swell and wind
| Day | Surf | Rating | Main swell | Wind am | Wind pm | Best time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | 6–9 ft | Great | 7.9 ft · 14 s · W | 8 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 15 | 7 mph cross-shore (S), gusts 14 | 6 am |
| Tue, Nov 10 | 6–8 ft | Great | 6.4 ft · 12 s · W | 4 mph cross-shore (E) | calm | 10 am |
| Wed, Nov 11 | 6–9 ft | Good | 5.9 ft · 13 s · W | 5 mph cross-shore (SSE) | 8 mph cross-shore (S), gusts 17 | 6 am |
| Thu, Nov 12 | 7–10 ft | Good | 7.6 ft · 15 s · W | 11 mph cross-shore (SE), gusts 20 | 11 mph onshore (S), gusts 22 | 8 am |
| Fri, Nov 13 | 6–9 ft | Poor | 7.9 ft · 13 s · WSW | 26 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 38 | 27 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 44 | 5 pm |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 10–13 ft | Poor to Fair | 11.8 ft · 15 s · WSW | 14 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 20 | 20 mph cross-shore (SSE), gusts 28 | 7 am |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 7–10 ft | Fair | 6.0 ft · 16 s · W | 12 mph onshore (SSW), gusts 25 | 14 mph cross-shore (W), gusts 28 | 4 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 9–12 ft | Great | 8.2 ft · 16 s · SW | 6 mph offshore (N), gusts 12 | calm | 7 am |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 3–5 ft | Good | — | 6 mph offshore (ENE) | 6 mph cross-shore (S) | 7 am |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 3–6 ft | Good | — | 12 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 19 | 13 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 18 | 7 am |
| Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24 | Days 11–16 for Big Flat are in the Current app with a Premium subscription. Get the app | |||||
Big Flat tide chart and tide times
Tides at Big Flat today, Monday, Nov 9: low 3.4 ft at 4:16 am, high 7.1 ft at 10:09 am and low -0.2 ft at 5:24 pm. At 12 pm the tide is 6.1 ft and falling.
Big Flat tide chart, November 2026
| Day | Tides |
|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | Low 3.4 ft at 4:16 amHigh 7.1 ft at 10:09 amLow -0.2 ft at 5:24 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | High 5.3 ft at 12:12 amLow 3.5 ft at 4:49 amHigh 7.0 ft at 10:42 amLow -0.2 ft at 6 pm |
| Wed, Nov 11 | High 5.3 ft at 12:58 amLow 3.9 ft at 5:21 amHigh 7.0 ft at 11:13 amLow 0.1 ft at 6:39 pm |
| Thu, Nov 12 | High 5.3 ft at 1:45 amLow 4.2 ft at 5:56 amHigh 7.0 ft at 11:48 amLow 0.5 ft at 7:20 pm |
| Fri, Nov 13 | High 5.3 ft at 2:32 amLow 4.4 ft at 6:37 amHigh 6.8 ft at 12:27 pmLow 0.8 ft at 8:05 pm |
| Sat, Nov 14 | High 5.4 ft at 3:28 amLow 4.7 ft at 7:24 amHigh 6.7 ft at 1:08 pmLow 1.2 ft at 8:53 pm |
| Sun, Nov 15 | High 5.5 ft at 4:21 amLow 4.7 ft at 8:36 amHigh 6.1 ft at 1:52 pmLow 1.2 ft at 9:43 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | High 5.3 ft at 5:16 amLow 4.3 ft at 9:56 amHigh 5.4 ft at 2:54 pmLow 1.3 ft at 10:28 pm |
| Tue, Nov 17 | High 5.5 ft at 5:57 amLow 4.0 ft at 11:23 am |
Tide predictions, not observations. Heights in feet above MLLW.
Big Flat water temperature
The water temperature at Big Flat is about 63°F on Monday, Nov 9. With the air feeling like 55°F and a 9 mph wind, a 3/2 full wetsuit is the suggestion. Over the next week the water stays between 58 and 63°F.
Water temperature is a forecast for the water at this spot, not a buoy reading. The wetsuit suggestion uses Billabong's wetsuit temperature scale, adjusted for air temperature and wind.
Surf spots near Big Flat
- Shelter Cove9.6 mi SE · 7–8 ft · Fair
- Deadman's10 mi SE · 8–9 ft · Good
- Gale Point11 mi SE · 10–12 ft · Good
- Usal Beach27 mi SE · 9–10 ft · Great
- Centerville Beach32 mi NNW · 11–13 ft · Good
- Eel River Mouth37 mi NNW · 11–13 ft · Great
Rated right now. The Current app animates the surf itself on a live map of the whole coast. See the app →
About Big Flat
Big Flat is a beach break in Shelter Cove, Humboldt County, California, facing southwest. Also called King Range.
Follow Big Flat in the Current app
The first 10 days are free, and Premium adds days 11–16.
Forecasts are estimates. Never rely on them for safety. For rip current risk and beach hazards, check the National Weather Service. Forecasts from Current's novel physics simulation. No AI. No black boxes. Ocean and weather data: NOAA (U.S. government data). NOAA does not endorse this site.