CatchWindow fishing intelligence

Santa Monica, CA Daily Water Report — August 23, 2026

Santa Monica is a surf-first day, with boating and sailing right on its heels. Forecast skies stay almost cloudless, rain is not indicated, and a modest west wind near 7 knots keeps the surface honest while a 0.58-meter swell at just over 12 seconds from the south-southwest lends period to a 0.7-to-0.8-meter sea. That mix is what carries surfing to 8.5, boating to 8, and sailing to 7.9. The numbers are suitability scores, not a safety declaration. The useful ride stretch runs from midmorning through midafternoon, before the day’s strongest gust of 11.5 knots around 17:00 puts a little more texture on the face. Wave height barely moves across the clock and is calmest near midnight at 0.72 meters, so this is not a one-pulse morning. Fishing sits at a more modest 6.8, supported by stable pressure near 1011 hPa and the morning solunar major from 08:04 to 10:04 stacked against the 08:58 high of 1.16 meters. A second major window runs 20:04 to 22:04 after the evening high of 1.67 meters at 19:12. The true low, 0.09 meters at 02:03, is a night affair; the afternoon dip to 0.91 meters at 13:06 is milder and less of a shoreline reveal. Kayaking trails at 6.5 against a 0.4-meter-per-second current toward the east-southeast, the tradeoff if you wanted a softer craft on the same water that treats larger boats kindly. Diving holds 7.4 in 23.4°C marine water, about 1.4 degrees above average. Air climbs from the high teens to the mid-20s and will feel closer to 30°C under a UV index of 7.2, with atmospheric visibility near 21 kilometers and only 3 percent cloud. Compared with yesterday’s reconstructed scores, fishing, surfing, boating, and kayaking all tick up while wildlife eases from 8 to 7.4 and diving slips a tenth. The coming days stay dry and light-winded, with air jumping into the low 30s from Monday and wave heights slowly building toward a 0.9-to-1.2-meter range by Saturday. Best bet: take the long-period faces before that late-afternoon gust arrives.