Pismo Beach · San Luis Obispo County · California
Shell Beach Surf Report & Forecast, Pismo Beach, California
Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, California: 6–7 ft, head high to overhead, at 12 pm PST on Monday, Nov 9, rated Great. The main swell is 6.6 ft at 15 seconds from the west, with calm wind. Water is about 70°F, so a 2mm springsuit is the suggestion; the next low tide is -0.3 ft at 4:13 pm.
6–7 ft
head high to overhead · occasional 8 ft
- Swell
- 6.6 ft · 15 s · W
- Wind
- calmcalm
- Tide
- 3.8 ft fallinglow -0.3 ft at 4:13 pm
- Water
- 70°F2mm springsuit
- Air
- 72°Ffeels like 71°F
- Sun
- rise 6:32 amset 5:01 pm
Shell Beach surf today and tomorrow
Best-rated hour today at Shell Beach: 5 pm, Great, on a falling low 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 Shell Beach: 9 am, Great, on a falling high tide.
Hour by hour as a table, today and tomorrow
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 6–7 ft | Great | 5 mph offshore (NE) | 4.5 ft |
| 7 am | 6–7 ft | Great | 4 mph offshore (NE) | 5.3 ft |
| 8 am | 6–7 ft | Great | 4 mph offshore (NE) | 6.0 ft |
| 9 am | 6–7 ft | Great | calm | 6.2 ft |
| 10 am | 6–7 ft | Great | calm | 5.9 ft |
| 11 am | 6–7 ft | Great | 4 mph cross-shore (WNW) | 5.0 ft |
| 12 pmnow | 6–7 ft | Great | 5 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 10 | 3.8 ft |
| 1 pm | 5–6 ft | Great | 6 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 11 | 2.4 ft |
| 2 pm | 5–6 ft | Great | 7 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 12 | 1.1 ft |
| 3 pm | 5–6 ft | Great | 9 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 14 | 0.2 ft |
| 4 pm | 5–6 ft | Great | 9 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 15 | -0.2 ft |
| 5 pm | 4–5 ft | Great | 9 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 14 | -0.1 ft |
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 4–5 ft | Great | 8 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 15 | 4.0 ft |
| 7 am | 4–5 ft | Great | 8 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 15 | 4.9 ft |
| 8 am | 4–5 ft | Great | 8 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 16 | 5.6 ft |
| 9 am | 3–4 ft | Great | 8 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 17 | 6.0 ft |
| 10 am | 3–4 ft | Great | 8 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 16 | 6.0 ft |
| 11 am | 3–4 ft | Great | 7 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 15 | 5.4 ft |
| 12 pm | 3–4 ft | Good | 7 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 13 | 4.4 ft |
| 1 pm | 3 ft | Good | 6 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 12 | 3.0 ft |
| 2 pm | 3 ft | Good | 6 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 11 | 1.7 ft |
| 3 pm | 3–4 ft | Good | 6 mph cross-shore (N), gusts 12 | 0.6 ft |
| 4 pm | 3–4 ft | Good | 9 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 17 | -0.1 ft |
| 5 pm | 3–4 ft | Good | 9 mph cross-shore (N), gusts 16 | -0.3 ft |
Shell Beach waves today: sets, lulls and how they break
At 12 pm, sets at Shell Beach arrive about every 5 minutes with about 4 waves each, and the waves are mostly spilling and crumbly.
- Set waves
- about 7.0 ft faces
- Waves per set
- about 4
- Sets
- every 5 minutes or so, each lasting about 43 s
- Lulls
- about 185 s between breaking waves
- How they break
- Spillingwhich means soft, crumbling whitewater
- Shape
- Crumblywhich means whitewater rolls gently down the face
- Breaking
- 40% of waves stand up and break where surfers sitThe rest roll through.
- Along-shore current
- moderate, about 1 mphThis is not a rip current forecast. For rip current risk, see the National Weather Service.
Shell Beach surf this weekend and the next 10 days
Next 10 days at Shell Beach: the biggest day is Saturday, Nov 14 at 5–8 ft, and the best-rated day is Tuesday, Nov 10 (Great). This weekend: Saturday, Nov 14, 5–8 ft and Good; Sunday, Nov 15, 4–7 ft and Great.
Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24
Days 11–16 for Shell Beach 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 | 4–7 ft | Great | 6.2 ft · 15 s · W | 4 mph offshore (NE) | 7 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 12 | 5 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | 3–5 ft | Great | 4.1 ft · 13 s · W | 8 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 16 | 6 mph offshore (NNE), gusts 11 | 9 am |
| Wed, Nov 11 | 3 ft | Great | 4.2 ft · 13 s · W | 4 mph offshore (NE) | calm | 5 pm |
| Thu, Nov 12 | 3–5 ft | Great | 2.2 ft · 13 s · W | 4 mph cross-shore (SE) | 8 mph onshore (SSW), gusts 14 | 10 am |
| Fri, Nov 13 | 4–6 ft | Great | 4.5 ft · 15 s · WSW | calm | 10 mph onshore (WSW), gusts 16 | 7 am |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 5–8 ft | Good | 5.3 ft · 16 s · WSW | 12 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 21 | 8 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 13 | 10 am |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 4–7 ft | Great | 6.3 ft · 18 s · WSW | calm | 11 mph onshore (W), gusts 23 | 7 am |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 5–7 ft | Fair | 4.3 ft · 15 s · WSW | 15 mph cross-shore (N), gusts 31 | 15 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 28 | 7 am |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 3–7 ft | Good | — | 12 mph cross-shore (N), gusts 23 | 14 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 20 | 10 am |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 2–4 ft | Good | — | 6 mph offshore (NE) | 10 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 15 | 7 am |
| Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24 | Days 11–16 for Shell Beach are in the Current app with a Premium subscription. Get the app | |||||
Shell Beach tide chart and tide times
Tides at Shell Beach today, Monday, Nov 9: low 2.6 ft at 2:41 am, high 6.2 ft at 8:54 am, low -0.3 ft at 4:13 pm and high 4.0 ft at 10:49 pm. At 12 pm the tide is 3.8 ft and falling.
Shell Beach tide chart, November 2026
| Day | Tides |
|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | Low 2.6 ft at 2:41 amHigh 6.2 ft at 8:54 amLow -0.3 ft at 4:13 pmHigh 4.0 ft at 10:49 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Low 2.8 ft at 3:16 amHigh 6.1 ft at 9:24 amLow -0.3 ft at 4:48 pmHigh 3.9 ft at 11:40 pm |
| Wed, Nov 11 | Low 3.0 ft at 3:40 amHigh 5.9 ft at 9:52 amLow -0.1 ft at 5:34 pm |
| Thu, Nov 12 | High 3.6 ft at 12:39 amLow 3.1 ft at 3:59 amHigh 5.8 ft at 10:30 amLow 0.3 ft at 6:17 pm |
| Fri, Nov 13 | High 3.8 ft at 1:52 amLow 3.6 ft at 4:35 amHigh 5.7 ft at 11:03 amLow 0.6 ft at 7:08 pm |
| Sat, Nov 14 | High 3.9 ft at 3:09 amLow 3.8 ft at 5:16 amHigh 5.3 ft at 11:45 amLow 0.7 ft at 8:02 pm |
| Sun, Nov 15 | High 3.9 ft at 4:16 amLow 3.8 ft at 6:40 amHigh 4.8 ft at 12:37 pmLow 0.7 ft at 8:56 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | High 3.9 ft at 4:59 amLow 3.5 ft at 8:45 amHigh 4.2 ft at 1:44 pmLow 0.7 ft at 9:42 pm |
| Tue, Nov 17 | High 4.1 ft at 5:21 amLow 3.2 ft at 10:30 amHigh 3.9 ft at 3:07 pm |
Tide predictions, not observations. Heights in feet above MLLW.
Shell Beach water temperature
The water temperature at Shell Beach is about 70°F on Monday, Nov 9. With the air feeling like 71°F and a 2 mph wind, a 2mm springsuit is the suggestion. Over the next week the water stays between 69 and 71°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 Shell Beach
- Pirate's Cove1.6 mi NW · 5–6 ft · Great
- Avila Beach2.6 mi WNW · 4–5 ft · Good
- Pismo Beach3.0 mi ESE · 7–9 ft · Great
- Oceano5.5 mi SE · 9–11 ft · Great
- Oso Flaco9.7 mi SSE · 11–12 ft · Great
- Spooner's Cove14 mi NW · 11–12 ft · Great
Rated right now. The Current app animates the surf itself on a live map of the whole coast. See the app →
About Shell Beach
Shell Beach is a reef break in Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo County, California, facing southwest. Also called Margo Dodd Park.
Follow Shell Beach 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.