Santa Cruz · Santa Cruz County · California
Three Mile Beach Surf Report & Forecast, Santa Cruz, CA
Three Mile Beach, Santa Cruz, California: 5–6 ft, head high to overhead, at 12 pm PST on Monday, Nov 9, rated Good. The main swell is 7.1 ft at 15 seconds from the west, with a 5 mph cross-shore wind from the northwest. Water is about 67°F, so a 2mm springsuit is the suggestion; the next low tide is -0.2 ft at 4:42 pm.
5–6 ft
head high to overhead · occasional 7 ft
- Swell
- 7.1 ft · 15 s · Wplus 0.3 ft · 16 s · SW
- Wind
- 5 mph (NW)cross-shore
- Tide
- 4.4 ft fallinglow -0.2 ft at 4:42 pm
- Water
- 67°F2mm springsuit
- Air
- 68°Ffeels like 66°F
- Sun
- rise 6:41 amset 5:03 pm
Three Mile Beach surf today and tomorrow
Best-rated hour today at Three Mile Beach: 6 am, Great, on a rising high 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 Three Mile Beach: 6 pm, Good, on a falling low tide.
Hour by hour as a table, today and tomorrow
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 6–7 ft | Great | 5 mph offshore (N) | 4.2 ft |
| 7 am | 6–7 ft | Great | 5 mph offshore (N) | 5.1 ft |
| 8 am | 5–6 ft | Great | 5 mph cross-shore (N) | 5.8 ft |
| 9 am | 5–6 ft | Good | 5 mph cross-shore (NNW) | 6.2 ft |
| 10 am | 5–6 ft | Good | 5 mph cross-shore (NW) | 6.1 ft |
| 11 am | 5–6 ft | Good | 7 mph cross-shore (NW) | 5.5 ft |
| 12 pmnow | 5–6 ft | Good | 10 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 16 | 4.4 ft |
| 1 pm | 5–6 ft | Fair | 13 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 20 | 3.1 ft |
| 2 pm | 4–5 ft | Fair | 12 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 20 | 1.7 ft |
| 3 pm | 4–5 ft | Fair | 13 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 20 | 0.6 ft |
| 4 pm | 4–5 ft | Fair | 12 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 19 | -0.1 ft |
| 5 pm | 4 ft | Good | 11 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 17 | -0.2 ft |
| 6 pm | 4–5 ft | Good | 10 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 15 | 0.3 ft |
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 3–4 ft | Good | 6 mph cross-shore (N) | 3.9 ft |
| 7 am | 3–4 ft | Good | 7 mph cross-shore (N) | 4.6 ft |
| 8 am | 3–4 ft | Good | 6 mph offshore (N), gusts 11 | 5.4 ft |
| 9 am | 3–4 ft | Good | 5 mph offshore (NNE) | 6.0 ft |
| 10 am | 3 ft | Good | calm | 6.1 ft |
| 11 am | 3–4 ft | Good | 4 mph cross-shore (WNW) | 5.8 ft |
| 12 pm | 3–4 ft | Fair | 8 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 14 | 5.0 ft |
| 1 pm | 4–5 ft | Fair | 11 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 17 | 3.8 ft |
| 2 pm | 4 ft | Fair | 11 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 17 | 2.4 ft |
| 3 pm | 4–5 ft | Fair | 11 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 17 | 1.2 ft |
| 4 pm | 4 ft | Good | 11 mph cross-shore (NW) | 0.2 ft |
| 5 pm | 3–4 ft | Good | 10 mph cross-shore (NNW) | -0.2 ft |
| 6 pm | 4–5 ft | Good | 9 mph cross-shore (NNW) | -0.1 ft |
Three Mile Beach waves today: sets, lulls and how they break
At 12 pm, sets at Three Mile Beach arrive about every 5 minutes with about 4 waves each, and the waves are mostly spilling and crumbly.
- Set waves
- about 6.0 ft faces
- Waves per set
- about 4
- Sets
- every 5 minutes or so, each lasting about 42 s
- Lulls
- about 107 s between breaking waves
- How they break
- Spillingwhich means soft, crumbling whitewater
- Shape
- Crumblywhich means whitewater rolls gently down the face
- Breaking
- 50% of waves stand up and break where surfers sitThe rest roll through.
- Along-shore current
- strong, about 1.8 mphThis is not a rip current forecast. For rip current risk, see the National Weather Service.
Three Mile Beach surf this weekend and the next 10 days
Next 10 days at Three Mile Beach: the biggest day is Monday, Nov 16 at 6–9 ft, and the best-rated day is Sunday, Nov 15 (Great). This weekend: Saturday, Nov 14, 4–8 ft and Great; Sunday, Nov 15, 5–8 ft and Great.
Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24
Days 11–16 for Three Mile 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 | 7.7 ft · 15 s · W | 5 mph cross-shore (N) | 12 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 20 | 6 am |
| Tue, Nov 10 | 3–5 ft | Good | 4.5 ft · 13 s · W | 6 mph offshore (N), gusts 11 | 11 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 17 | 6 pm |
| Wed, Nov 11 | 3–4 ft | Good | 4.9 ft · 13 s · W | 6 mph cross-shore (E), gusts 13 | 5 mph onshore (WSW), gusts 11 | 6 am |
| Thu, Nov 12 | 3–6 ft | Good | 3.1 ft · 13 s · W | 7 mph cross-shore (E), gusts 12 | 9 mph onshore (SW), gusts 18 | 6 am |
| Fri, Nov 13 | 4–7 ft | Good | 5.9 ft · 14 s · WSW | 9 mph cross-shore (S), gusts 15 | 15 mph onshore (SW), gusts 22 | 6 am |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 4–8 ft | Great | 6.4 ft · 15 s · WSW | 5 mph cross-shore (NNW) | 8 mph onshore (WSW) | 10 am |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 5–8 ft | Great | 7.0 ft · 17 s · WSW | 5 mph onshore (S) | 7 mph cross-shore (W), gusts 12 | 10 am |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 6–9 ft | Great | 5.6 ft · 15 s · W | 11 mph cross-shore (NNW), gusts 17 | 18 mph cross-shore (NW), gusts 28 | 7 am |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 2–6 ft | Good | — | 10 mph cross-shore (N), gusts 17 | 15 mph cross-shore (NNW) | 10 am |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 2–4 ft | Fair | — | 7 mph cross-shore (WNW) | 14 mph cross-shore (NNW) | 1 pm |
| Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24 | Days 11–16 for Three Mile Beach are in the Current app with a Premium subscription. Get the app | |||||
Three Mile Beach tide chart and tide times
Tides at Three Mile Beach today, Monday, Nov 9: low 2.9 ft at 3:13 am, high 6.3 ft at 9:18 am, low -0.2 ft at 4:42 pm and high 4.2 ft at 11:26 pm. At 12 pm the tide is 4.4 ft and falling.
Three Mile Beach tide chart, November 2026
| Day | Tides |
|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | Low 2.9 ft at 3:13 amHigh 6.3 ft at 9:18 amLow -0.2 ft at 4:42 pmHigh 4.2 ft at 11:26 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Low 3.0 ft at 3:46 amHigh 6.2 ft at 9:50 amLow -0.2 ft at 5:18 pm |
| Wed, Nov 11 | High 4.1 ft at 12:15 amLow 3.2 ft at 4:13 amHigh 6.0 ft at 10:22 amLow 0.0 ft at 6:01 pm |
| Thu, Nov 12 | High 4.1 ft at 1:15 amLow 3.6 ft at 4:45 amHigh 6.0 ft at 10:56 amLow 0.3 ft at 6:45 pm |
| Fri, Nov 13 | High 4.2 ft at 2:16 amLow 3.8 ft at 5:22 amHigh 5.8 ft at 11:36 amLow 0.6 ft at 7:33 pm |
| Sat, Nov 14 | High 4.2 ft at 3:20 amLow 4.0 ft at 6:12 amHigh 5.5 ft at 12:17 pmLow 0.8 ft at 8:23 pm |
| Sun, Nov 15 | High 4.3 ft at 4:19 amLow 4.0 ft at 7:38 amHigh 5.0 ft at 1:04 pmLow 0.8 ft at 9:15 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | High 4.2 ft at 5:08 amLow 3.7 ft at 9:18 amHigh 4.5 ft at 2:11 pmLow 0.9 ft at 10:01 pm |
| Tue, Nov 17 | High 4.5 ft at 5:37 amLow 3.4 ft at 10:53 am |
Tide predictions, not observations. Heights in feet above MLLW.
Three Mile Beach water temperature
The water temperature at Three Mile Beach is about 67°F on Monday, Nov 9. With the air feeling like 66°F and a 5 mph wind, a 2mm springsuit is the suggestion. Over the next week the water stays between 67 and 69°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 Three Mile Beach
- Four Mile Beach0.6 mi WNW · 6–7 ft · Great
- Laguna Creek2.8 mi WNW · 9–11 ft · Great
- Natural Bridges State Beach3.0 mi ESE · 7–8 ft · Great
- Stockton Avenue3.6 mi ESE · 8–9 ft · Poor
- Swift Street3.7 mi ESE · 4–5 ft · Poor to Fair
- Mitchell's Cove4.1 mi E · 3–4 ft · Good
Rated right now. The Current app animates the surf itself on a live map of the whole coast. See the app →
About Three Mile Beach
Three Mile Beach is a reef break in Santa Cruz County, California, facing southwest. Also called 3 Mile.
Follow Three Mile 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.