CatchWindow fishing intelligence

Santa Monica, CA Daily Water Report — August 27, 2026

A solid morning and a fading afternoon—today’s best window is the early stretch, and for most water users, that’s where you want to be. Surfing tops the board at an 8/10, and for good reason: a clean 0.88-metre groundswell running at 10.3 seconds from the south-southwest, with barely a ripple of wind-wave interference. That 2-knot NNW breeze, gusting to 3, is hardly enough to wrinkle the surface, so expect lined-up, rideable waves through the late morning. The calmest reported wave height of the day arrives near 23:00, but if you’re on a surfboard, the dawn patrol from sunrise at 06:24 through the mid-morning solunar minor at 05:46 to 06:46 offers the sweetest combination of light wind and building swell energy. Boating and kayaking both score well—7.7 and 7.6 respectively—and they share the same logic: the offshore current is modest at half a metre per second running southwest, and with wind staying under 12 knots until later afternoon, the morning hours are flat and friendly. Paddlers should note that the representative wind climbs to a gust of 14 knots by 17:00, so plan your return well before that. The sea surface temperature is a balmy 23.5°C, noticeably warmer than the 20.9°C recorded just two days ago, which makes the water feel more inviting even if the diving score is unavailable today. Fishing sits at a middling 6.6, identical to yesterday. The solunar major period from 11:16 to 13:16 aligns with the waxing gibbous moon (98% illuminated) and a stable barometer around 1010 hPa, which tilts the odds slightly in your favour. But with no tide data available, the low-tide proximity variable that typically boosts wildlife viewing (7.8 today) is less of a factor for the angler. Wildlife watchers actually score a notch above fishing, so if you’re shore-bound, keep an eye out during the minor periods bracketing sunrise and sunset. The coming days show a modest uptick in swell: waves build to 1.0–1.2 metres by Friday and Saturday, with similar south-southwest direction, so surfing conditions should hold or improve. Winds stay light through the weekend, though a slight chance of rain appears by September 1. If you’re heading out soon, get on the water before the sea breeze finds its teeth.