El Capitan 88.2
#999 of 5753 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · California · near Santa Barbara
Works almost every day, clean mornings are the norm, no off season.
Best time to surf El Capitan
The best time to surf El Capitan is January, October, November. The season runs Sep to Jul. In October the water sits around 17°C, so pack a 3/2 wetsuit, and the typical wave is 1.1 m. The nearest airport is SBA (17 km) and the nearest town is Santa Barbara (28 km).
| Month | Surfable | Clean | Size | Water | Suit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 100% | 67% | 1.7 m | 15°C | 4/3 |
| Feb | 100% | 61% | 1.3 m | 15°C | 4/3 |
| Mar | 99% | 56% | 1.4 m | 15°C | 4/3 |
| Apr | 100% | 47% | 1.6 m | 14°C | 4/3 |
| May | 100% | 47% | 1.5 m | 13°C | 4/3 |
| Jun | 100% | 53% | 1.2 m | 15°C | 4/3 |
| Jul | 100% | 47% | 1.2 m | 17°C | 3/2 |
| Aug | 100% | 39% | 1.1 m | 18°C | 3/2 |
| Sep | 100% | 53% | 1.1 m | 18°C | 3/2 |
| Oct | 99% | 71% | 1.1 m | 17°C | 3/2 |
| Nov | 99% | 67% | 1.1 m | 16°C | 3/2 |
| Dec | 99% | 56% | 1.5 m | 16°C | 4/3 |
Why 88.2
Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and weighted; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world is 100.
The detail
Faces 190° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 97% of days. Mean peak period 11.4 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 43%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 34.458, -120.022 (OpenStreetMap).
Spots nearby
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