Zuma Beach

Best Surf Season (November - February)

Zuma Beach is at its best when the North Pacific storm track turns on and the offshore wind machine comes alive. From November through February, ideal wind conditions blow between 51% and 63% of the time, with N/NNE/NE/ENE directions grooming the southwest-facing sandbars. Swell averages 3-3.5ft (0.9-1.1m) with long periods of 12-12.4s. While pure west and west-northwest energy dominates the winter wave rose, the WSW and SW components are strong enough to light up the beach, and the long-period WNW swell wraps and refracts into the cove. Winter storms spinning in the Gulf of Alaska push cold fronts through Southern California, and the high-pressure offshore events that follow deliver the cleanest, most powerful surf of the year.