Carmel River State Beach Current Conditions Summary

Carmel River State Beach in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA is a river-mouth break. Current conditions: 1.5 ft waves, w 8 mph (cross-shore), rising → high. Size is there, but cross-shore wind affects quality. A hazardous Carmel-area rivermouth and sandbar zone at Carmel River State Beach. Only consider when sandbar shape, swell size, and current are manageable. West to northwest winter energy is the most relevant swell window. Forecasts are updated every 3 hours using ML-corrected NOAA models with live buoy data from CDIP, NDBC, and IOOS stations.