Lower Trestles Alert Guide

California, USA · part of the Lower Trestles spot guide

The Green Beach buoy sits only about nine kilometres offshore in the same swell corridor, so live observations lead the break by a short travel time and support a real-time alert — but keep the window tight, because a good buoy reading only pays off on a dawn, mid-incoming-tide session before the sea-breeze textures the face.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.For the money-maker, track Southern Hemisphere storms near New Zealand and off Antarctica for long-period south groundswell, and eastern Pacific tropical systems off Mexico from July through October.
2. 2.Watch the tropical angle: a good south-southwest is firing, but too far southeast and the right breaks too far outside and overshoots the point.
3. 3.Don’t forget the winter window — North Pacific west-to-northwest around 270–290° arrives more directly on the southwest face; pair it with a morning offshore.
4. 4.Read the buoy for the firing signature: roughly 4–6 ft at 14 seconds or longer from the south-southwest means head-high, walled, contest-quality Lowers.
5. 5.Time the session — a dawn offshore glass on a mid-to-incoming tide is the play, and the long walk in means arriving before the sea-breeze fills, or a good buoy reading still yields a mediocre surf.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: E–NE offshore (dawn glass and autumn Santa Anas) — from 45° to 110° (NE–ESE).

Lowers is tide-sensitive and a mid tide is the consensus best, with incoming mid especially favored on south swells. Low tide exposes the inside cobble and high tide fattens and backs the wave off.

Dial it in