Best surf: Cowell, Sunday, October 4 at 11 AM — 9 alone / 10 with instructor, the earliest of three tied top readings (Sunday 11 AM and 1 PM, Monday 9 AM). Capitola is closed to surfing by a county bacterial beach alert. Best jump: Sunday, October 4 at 9 AM at Skydive California — calm wind, gusts 5 mph, the smoothest slot in a window that is ✅ at every sample. All times PDT.

Summary Calendar

Surfing

Bottom Line

Cowell is the beach this weekend. Capitola is closed to surfing by a county bacterial beach alert.

• Best readings: Cowell Sunday 11 AM and 1 PM and Monday 9 AM, each 9 alone / 10 with instructor. Next best are Cowell Sunday 9 AM and Monday 11 AM and 1 PM, each 8.5 / 10.
• Friday and Saturday are a step lower but still good: Cowell scores 7.5 / 9 at 9 AM on both days, and 8 / 9.5 at 5 PM Friday.
• Capitola: every reading on all four days is gated by the active Santa Cruz County beach alert at Capitola Beach at Soquel Creek (sampled September 28). Its waves would otherwise be similar to Cowell’s.
• Waves: a long-period SSW groundswell (14–17 s) gives Cowell faces of about 1.8–2.5 ft. That is inside your 2.5 ft limit and mostly 2 ft or more.
• Wind: mornings are calm or lightly offshore, and afternoons have a light westerly cross-shore breeze of 6 mph at most.
• Tide: high afternoon tides (5.1–5.5 ft) are the main drag. They make Cowell fat, and they gate Sunday 5 PM because the waves stop breaking.

Daily Tables

Score is alone / with instructor; bold marks the day’s best. Face is the estimated breaking face from groundswell. Tide in ft, ↗ rising, ↘ falling; fat means a soft high-tide wave that is harder to catch. Wind in mph: ↑ offshore, ⟷ cross-shore, ↓ onshore. Weather is °F at the beach with the sky: ☀️ sunny, 🌤️ mostly sunny, ⛅ partly sunny, 🌥️ mostly cloudy, ☁️ cloudy, 🌫️ fog, 🌧️ rain. ⚠️ cost one point, ❌ two or more; ▲▼ mark a fast change before the next reading.

Capitola — Fri Oct 2: ❌ all day, alert

Cowell — Fri Oct 2

↓ SSW groundswell 1.6 ft @ 17 s, angled · sun 7:03 AM–6:51 PM

Capitola — Sat Oct 3: ❌ all day, alert

Cowell — Sat Oct 3

↓ SSW groundswell 1.7 ft @ 15 s, angled · sun 7:04 AM–6:50 PM

Capitola — Sun Oct 4: ❌ all day, alert

Cowell — Sun Oct 4

↓ SSW groundswell 1.4–1.5 ft @ 13–15 s, angled · sun 7:05 AM–6:48 PM

Capitola — Mon Oct 5: ❌ all day, alert

Cowell — Mon Oct 5

↓ SSW groundswell 1.5–1.6 ft @ 14 s, straight in · sun 7:06 AM–6:47 PM

Skydiving

Bottom Line

Every sample on all four days is ✅; Sunday at 9 AM (calm) and Monday at 9 AM (1 mph) are the smoothest slots.

Daily Tables

Wind and gusts in mph, rain in mm; the arrow points where the wind comes from, roughly your heading on final. Weather is air °F with the sky: ☀️ sunny, 🌤️ mostly sunny, ⛅ partly sunny, 🌥️ mostly cloudy, ☁️ cloudy, 🌧️ rain. Go: ✅ wind 11 or less, ⚠️ 12 up to the limit, ❌ over the limit or any rain. Gusts never change Go: ⚠️ gusty means gusts 17+ or 9+ above the wind, ❌ rough means 25+ or 15+ above; (+N) is that gap when it reaches 9.

Fri Oct 2: ✅ all day · wind ≤ 5 from NNW/NNE/N, gusts ≤ 13 · dry · weather 9 AM–5 PM: 70°⛅ 78°⛅ 85°⛅ 89°⛅ 90°🌤️ · sun 7:01 AM–6:49 PM

Sat Oct 3: ✅ all day · wind ≤ 5 from N/NNW, gusts ≤ 13 · dry · weather 9 AM–5 PM: 73°🌤️ 83°🌤️ 90°🌤️ 94°⛅ 94°🌤️ · sun 7:02 AM–6:47 PM

Sun Oct 4

sun 7:03 AM–6:46 PM · student limit 14 mph

Mon Oct 5

sun 7:04 AM–6:44 PM · student limit 14 mph

Safety

• Capitola bacterial beach alert: Santa Cruz County water quality, updated September 29 from September 28 testing, lists an active alert at Capitola Beach at Soquel Creek. Stay out of the water at Capitola until the county lifts it.
• Domoic acid at Cowell: the county’s caution (measured September 21) covers Cowell Beach through Rio del Mar. It is linked to Pseudo-nitzschia, which can irritate skin, eyes, mouth and throat even without a visible red tide. Swallowing water is the main exposure route. This is a caution, not a closure. Avoid swallowing water and rinse off afterwards.
• Permanent postings: stay clear of the Neary Lagoon outfall at Cowell and the Soquel Creek mouth at Capitola. The county’s precautionary advisory applies for 72 hours after any rain.
• NWS alerts: a Coastal Flood Advisory covers both points until Thursday, October 1 at 5 PM PDT, before this window. Check it is not extended.
• Freshness: sources were fetched Wednesday, September 30 at 9:52 PM PDT. No camera, lifeguard or instructor check was done yet.

Sources

• Surf: Capitola Cowell Surf Forecast 20261002 - 20261005 Summary (2).md — generated September 30, 2026.
• Skydiving: Skydive California Forecast 20261002 - 20261005 Summary (2).md — generated September 30, 2026.