Carmel, California
Recommendations refresh every 30 minutes based on tide, wind, and crowd telemetry from Quiver.
First light in Carmel means glass, empty peaks, and the best conditions of the day before thermal onshores build. These 1 spots are worth the 5am alarm.
4 spots
Main Carmel-by-the-Sea surf zone with several shifting beach-break peaks along the white-sand beach. Better for research as the core local spot, but conditions can change quickly with sandbars, tide, and wind.
A hazardous Carmel-area rivermouth and sandbar zone at Carmel River State Beach. Include for research completeness, but this is not a casual surf recommendation.
Remote, exposed beach-break zone on the north Big Sur coast. Garrapata is a coastal state park surf zone with meaningful rips, undertow, rocks, and shark risk.
Monastery Beach is included only as an expert and hazard research entry. Reliable public sources emphasize scuba use and dangerous water conditions more than ordinary surf use.
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8:30 PM–9:30 PM
incoming tide, good swell angle
Top picks
Parking and access info for early morning sessions before sunrise.
Monastery Beach is included only as an expert and hazard research entry. Reliable public sources emphasize scuba use and dangerous water conditions more than ordinary surf use.
Do not treat this as a normal beach-break access. Shorebreak and drop-off can make entry and exit dangerous.
Roadside and state beach access near Highway 1. Parking can be tight and conditions should be checked before stopping.
Logging once helps tune Carmel picks.
About surfing in Carmel
Check the forecast, surf the session, log what happened, and help Quiver keep tuning your local calls.
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