Français

Santa Monica kitesurf, wingfoil and surf spot

United States · California

Spot currently openAdvanced levelAltitude 4 m 34 | -118.48

Overview

Santa Monica is a kitesurfing spot located on the famous Santa Monica beach in Los Angeles, California. This iconic wide sandy beach offers west to northwest afternoon thermal winds with views of the Santa Monica Pier and Malibu mountains. The spot is suited for advanced riders due to the extremely high beach traffic and strict regulations on kite zones.

Suggest an edit

Spot forecast for Santa Monica

Sunrise 07:03 · Sunset 18:13

Open-Meteo

Premium weather models. Get the professional models (ECMWF, GFS, ICON, MeteoSwiss…) and a 16-day forecast. Without a subscription: Open-Meteo over 5 days.

Go Premium

< 7 kn7–12 kn13–20 kn21–30 kn31–40 kn41+ kn Gusts Your minimum: 7 kn

Forecasts provided by Open-Meteo

Swell and waves

Swell and tides over 8 days. Premium members see the swell and tides over 8 days. Without a subscription: 5 days.

Go Premium

Wave height: < 0.5 m 0.5–1 m 1–2 m 2–3 m ≥ 3 m

Swell data by Open-Meteo Marine

Tides

Heights above lowest astronomical tide, in the spot's local time. Computed 1.5 km from the spot.

6:0012:0018:006:0012:0018:006:0012:0018:006:0012:0018:006:0012:0018:00Mon 19Tue 20Wed 21Thu 22Fri 23 Now06:591.7 m11:471.5 m16:591.8 m00:180.7 m07:151.8 m12:371.3 m18:031.8 m00:500.7 m07:301.9 m13:151.1 m18:521.9 m01:180.7 m07:462 m13:490.9 m19:361.9 m01:430.8 m08:022.1 m14:230.7 m20:191.9 m
  • Monday 19 October High tide · 1.7 m Low tide · 1.5 m High tide · 1.8 m
  • Tuesday 20 October Low tide · 0.7 m High tide · 1.8 m Low tide · 1.3 m High tide · 1.8 m
  • Wednesday 21 October Low tide · 0.7 m High tide · 1.9 m Low tide · 1.1 m High tide · 1.9 m
  • Thursday 22 October Low tide · 0.7 m High tide · 2 m Low tide · 0.9 m High tide · 1.9 m
  • Friday 23 October Low tide · 0.8 m High tide · 2.1 m Low tide · 0.7 m High tide · 1.9 m

Santa Monica: when to go?

Rideable days and hours computed for a minimum wind of 7 knots · log in to set your own (foil, twin-tip…)

Season · peak

154h

in August · 30.5 rideable days

The season runs from March to September, peaking in August: 26 rideable days a month and 154 hours of usable wind, at 20 °C. The low point is December, at 8 days.

Rideable days per month

0 10 20 30 40 January: 10.5 rideable days J February: 16 rideable days F March: 23 rideable days M April: 23.5 rideable days A May: 28 rideable days M June: 26.5 rideable days J July: 28 rideable days J August: 30.5 rideable days30.5 d A September: 25.5 rideable days S October: 20.5 rideable days O November: 13.5 rideable days N December: 8 rideable days8 d D 0 10 20 30 40 January: 10.5 rideable days J February: 16 rideable days F March: 23 rideable days M April: 23.5 rideable days A May: 28 rideable days M June: 26.5 rideable days J July: 28 rideable days J August: 30.5 rideable days30.5 d A September: 25.5 rideable days S October: 20.5 rideable days O November: 13.5 rideable days N December: 8 rideable days8 d D

Wind strength when it is rideable

7-12 knots · 92%13-20 knots · 7%21-30 knots · 1%

When the spot works, wind sits mostly between 7 and 12 knots — 92% of rideable hours. Big-kite territory. The coldest month is February, at 16 °C. The wettest month is February, with 121 mm.

Monthly averages: Santa Monica
Monthly averages — Santa Monica — averaged over 2 years of records — Weather data by Open-Meteo.com — How it is calculated
Month Rideable days Usable wind Temperature Rain
January 10.5 44 h 17 °C 31 mm
February 16.0 77 h 16 °C 121 mm
March 23.0 118 h 17 °C 35 mm
April 23.5 132 h 17 °C 2 mm
May 28.0 151 h 18 °C 0 mm
June 26.5 169 h 20 °C 0 mm
July 28.0 167 h 22 °C 0 mm
August 30.5 154 h 23 °C 0 mm
September 25.5 135 h 23 °C 1 mm
October 20.5 95 h 21 °C 12 mm
November 13.5 56 h 20 °C 47 mm
December 8.0 28 h 18 °C 53 mm

Photo gallery of Santa Monica

This spot is waiting for its first images

Ridden here? One photo or video, and the spot comes alive for everyone discovering it.

Technical details of Santa Monica spot

N: Not rideable NNE: Not rideable NE: Not rideable ENE: Not rideable E: Not rideable ESE: Not rideable SE: Not rideable SSE: Not rideable S: Rideable SSW: Rideable SW: Rideable WSW: Not rideable W: Rideable WNW: Rideable NW: Rideable NNW: Not rideable N E S W

The spot works with winds from S, SSW, SW, W, WNW, NW.

Rideable Not rideable
Spot opening date · Required level
Spot opening date
Open all year round
Required level
Advanced
On the water

Ocean beach spot with waves of 0.5 to 1.5m. Water is temperate (14-20°C/57-68°F), a 3/2 wetsuit is recommended. Sandy bottom with sandbars. Drift currents along Santa Monica Bay. Wave conditions are moderate thanks to the bay's partial protection. Riding area limited by regulations.

Hazards

Extremely busy area — one of the most visited beaches in the world. Santa Monica Pier — major obstacle, maintain a very large distance. Strict regulations on kite zones and hours — check before each session. Surfers, swimmers, paddlers, and beachgoers everywhere. Drift currents in the bay. Boat and jet ski traffic.

Something out of date? Suggest an edit

Live

Santa Monica1.9 kmsource noaa

Readings reserved for Premium members

Live readings from Santa Monica weather station are reserved for Premium members.

  • Real-time readings
  • Last 48 hours history
  • Custom alerts
  • Extended weather forecasts
Discover Premium

Already a Premium member? Log in

Additional stations

All the details of your session on windtracker.app

Webcams near Santa Monica

Webcams provided by Windy.com

Nearby spots

All spots: California

Comments 0

No comments yet.

    Log in to comment

    Suggest a photo

    Accepted formats: JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC. 10 MB at most per photo.

    Suggest a video

    Your video suggestion will be reviewed by our team before being published. Thank you for your contribution!

    Paste the URL of your video from YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, etc.

    Suggest sports for this spot

    Select the sports you think are practiced at this spot:

    Your proposal will be reviewed by our team before publication.

    Sports practiced

    Select all sports available at this spot

    Menu

    Explore

    Log in Sign up Français