Santa Barbara · Santa Barbara County · California
Thousand Steps Surf Report & Forecast, Santa Barbara, CA
Thousand Steps, Santa Barbara, California: 2–3 ft, waist high, at 12 pm PST on Monday, Nov 9, rated Good. The main swell is 2.1 ft at 15 seconds from the west-southwest, with a 5 mph onshore wind from the southwest. Water is about 74°F, so a rashguard is enough; the next low tide is 0.0 ft at 3:50 pm.
2–3 ft
waist high
- Swell
- 2.1 ft · 15 s · WSW
- Wind
- 5 mph (SW)onshore
- Tide
- 3.7 ft fallinglow 0.0 ft at 3:50 pm
- Water
- 74°Frashguard
- Air
- 76°Ffeels like 72°F
- Sun
- rise 6:26 amset 4:59 pm
Thousand Steps surf today and tomorrow
Best-rated hour today at Thousand Steps: 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 Thousand Steps: 7 am, Good, on a rising high tide.
Hour by hour as a table, today and tomorrow
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 2–3 ft | Good | calm | 5.2 ft |
| 7 am | 2 ft | Good | calm | 6.1 ft |
| 8 am | 2 ft | Good | calm | 6.7 ft |
| 9 am | 2 ft | Good | calm | 6.7 ft |
| 10 am | 2–3 ft | Good | 5 mph onshore (SW) | 6.2 ft |
| 11 am | 2–3 ft | Good | 6 mph onshore (SW) | 5.1 ft |
| 12 pmnow | 2–3 ft | Fair | 6 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 3.7 ft |
| 1 pm | 2–3 ft | Good | 7 mph cross-shore (WSW), gusts 12 | 2.2 ft |
| 2 pm | 2–3 ft | Good | 8 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 1.0 ft |
| 3 pm | 2–3 ft | Good | 7 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 0.3 ft |
| 4 pm | 2–3 ft | Good | 6 mph cross-shore (W) | 0.1 ft |
| 5 pm | 2–3 ft | Great | 5 mph cross-shore (WNW) | 0.5 ft |
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 2 ft | Good | 6 mph offshore (NE), gusts 11 | 4.8 ft |
| 7 am | 2 ft | Good | 6 mph offshore (NE) | 5.7 ft |
| 8 am | 2 ft | Good | 5 mph cross-shore (ENE) | 6.4 ft |
| 9 am | 2 ft | Good | 4 mph cross-shore (ESE) | 6.7 ft |
| 10 am | 2 ft | Fair | 5 mph cross-shore (SSE) | 6.4 ft |
| 11 am | 2 ft | Fair | 5 mph onshore (S) | 5.6 ft |
| 12 pm | 2 ft | Good | 4 mph onshore (SSW) | 4.4 ft |
| 1 pm | 2 ft | Good | 4 mph onshore (SW) | 3.0 ft |
| 2 pm | 2 ft | Good | 5 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 1.6 ft |
| 3 pm | 2–3 ft | Good | 6 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 0.6 ft |
| 4 pm | 2–3 ft | Good | 6 mph cross-shore (W) | 0.1 ft |
| 5 pm | 2 ft | Good | 5 mph cross-shore (WNW) | 0.2 ft |
Thousand Steps waves today: sets, lulls and how they break
At 12 pm, sets at Thousand Steps arrive about every 5 minutes with about 4 waves each, and the waves are mostly barreling and hollow.
- Set waves
- about 2.7 ft faces
- Waves per set
- about 4
- Sets
- every 5 minutes or so, each lasting about 42 s
- Lulls
- about 225 s between breaking waves
- How they break
- Barrelingwhich means the lip pitches out and can throw a barrel
- Shape
- Hollowwhich means throwing, barreling waves
- Breaking
- 32% of waves stand up and break where surfers sitThe rest roll through.
- Along-shore current
- strong, about 1.2 mphThis is not a rip current forecast. For rip current risk, see the National Weather Service.
Thousand Steps surf this weekend and the next 10 days
Next 10 days at Thousand Steps: the biggest day is Monday, Nov 16 at 5–8 ft, and the best-rated day is Tuesday, Nov 17 (Great). This weekend: Saturday, Nov 14, 3–5 ft and Great; Sunday, Nov 15, 3–4 ft and Great.
Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24
Days 11–16 for Thousand Steps 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 | 2–3 ft | Great | 1.7 ft · 16 s · WSW | calm | 8 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 5 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | 2–3 ft | Good | 1.9 ft · 13 s · WSW | 5 mph cross-shore (ENE) | 5 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 7 am |
| Wed, Nov 11 | 2 ft | Good | 1.8 ft · 13 s · W | 4 mph cross-shore (ENE) | 4 mph onshore (SSW), gusts 9 | 7 am |
| Thu, Nov 12 | 2–3 ft | Great | 1.6 ft · 13 s · W | 6 mph cross-shore (ESE), gusts 11 | 8 mph cross-shore (SSE) | 5 pm |
| Fri, Nov 13 | 3–5 ft | Great | 2.5 ft · 15 s · W | calm | 6 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 10 am |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 3–5 ft | Great | 3.4 ft · 13 s · W | 6 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 11 | 8 mph cross-shore (W) | 10 am |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 3–4 ft | Great | 2.6 ft · 18 s · WSW | 5 mph offshore (NNW), gusts 10 | 8 mph cross-shore (WSW), gusts 14 | 7 am |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 5–8 ft | Great | 3.9 ft · 15 s · WSW | 10 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 18 | 15 mph offshore (NNW), gusts 24 | 10 am |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 5–7 ft | Great | — | 12 mph offshore (NNW) | 11 mph offshore (NNW), gusts 20 | 10 am |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 3–4 ft | Great | — | 11 mph offshore (NNW) | 16 mph cross-shore (WNW) | 10 am |
| Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24 | Days 11–16 for Thousand Steps are in the Current app with a Premium subscription. Get the app | |||||
Thousand Steps tide chart and tide times
Tides at Thousand Steps today, Monday, Nov 9: low 2.8 ft at 2:15 am, high 6.7 ft at 8:35 am, low 0.0 ft at 3:50 pm and high 4.5 ft at 10:18 pm. At 12 pm the tide is 3.7 ft and falling.
Thousand Steps tide chart, November 2026
| Day | Tides |
|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | Low 2.8 ft at 2:15 amHigh 6.7 ft at 8:35 amLow 0.0 ft at 3:50 pmHigh 4.5 ft at 10:18 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Low 3.0 ft at 2:49 amHigh 6.7 ft at 9:03 amLow 0.1 ft at 4:23 pmHigh 4.2 ft at 11:03 pm |
| Wed, Nov 11 | Low 3.2 ft at 3:13 amHigh 6.3 ft at 9:30 amLow 0.2 ft at 5:07 pm |
| Thu, Nov 12 | High 3.9 ft at 12:05 amLow 3.3 ft at 3:30 amHigh 6.2 ft at 10:04 amLow 0.6 ft at 5:52 pm |
| Fri, Nov 13 | High 3.9 ft at 1:13 amLow 3.7 ft at 3:51 amHigh 6.0 ft at 10:40 amLow 1.0 ft at 6:42 pm |
| Sat, Nov 14 | High 4.1 ft at 2:51 amLow 4.0 ft at 4:24 amHigh 5.7 ft at 11:20 amLow 1.2 ft at 7:40 pm |
| Sun, Nov 15 | High 4.1 ft at 4:16 amLow 4.1 ft at 5:36 amHigh 5.2 ft at 12:10 pmLow 1.2 ft at 8:35 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | High 4.3 ft at 4:50 amLow 4.0 ft at 8:10 amHigh 4.7 ft at 1:22 pmLow 1.3 ft at 9:25 pm |
| Tue, Nov 17 | High 4.5 ft at 5:08 amLow 3.7 ft at 10:11 amHigh 4.4 ft at 2:50 pm |
Tide predictions, not observations. Heights in feet above MLLW.
Thousand Steps water temperature
The water temperature at Thousand Steps is about 74°F on Monday, Nov 9. With the air feeling like 72°F and a 5 mph wind, a rashguard is enough. Over the next week the water stays between 73 and 75°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 Thousand Steps
- Leadbetter Point0.8 mi ENE · 2 ft · Good
- Mesa Lane Beach1.1 mi W · 3 ft · Good
- Sandspit1.5 mi ENE · 1 ft · Poor
- Arroyo Burro / Hendry's1.9 mi WNW · 2–3 ft · Fair
- Butterfly Beach4.0 mi ENE · 1–2 ft · Fair
- Hammond's Reef4.6 mi ENE · 2 ft · Poor to Fair
Rated right now. The Current app animates the surf itself on a live map of the whole coast. See the app →
About Thousand Steps
Thousand Steps is a reef break in Santa Barbara County, California, facing south-southwest. Also called 1000 Steps.
Follow Thousand Steps 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.