San Onofre (Old Man's) Surf Forecast
Southern California, CA · Mellow rolling longboard walls - California's friendliest lineup.
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San Onofre (Old Man's) Spot Guide
Best swell
Ideal size
Best wind
The wave
Local knowledge
Old Man's is surfing's town square, carrying the aloha-on-the-mainland culture of the 1940s San Onofre Surf Club straight into the present. The wave rolls forever and asks little; families run four generations deep, and a summer south swell turns the whole beach into a reunion.
Nearby spots
- Lower Trestles 2 mi · Southern California
- Swami's (Encinitas) 28 mi · San Diego
- Huntington Beach Pier 32 mi · Southern California
- Ocean Beach (San Diego) 47 mi · San Diego
- El Porto (Manhattan Beach) 61 mi · Southern California
FAQ
What swell direction works best at San Onofre (Old Man's)?
SW swell hits San Onofre (Old Man's) straight on. The spot picks up anything arriving from SSE (150°) through WNW (290°); swell from outside that window is blocked by the coastline.
What wind is best at San Onofre (Old Man's)?
NE wind blows offshore and grooms the surf. SW wind is straight onshore and chops it up; light wind under ~5 kn is fine from any direction.
When is the best time of year to surf San Onofre (Old Man's)?
This stretch faces south, so it specialises in Southern Hemisphere S swells (April-September), while winter NW swell has to wrap in. Fall offers the best of both with clean conditions.
What's the best tide at San Onofre (Old Man's)?
All tides work; higher is softer. Tide predictions for the spot's NOAA station are in the forecast above.
Is San Onofre (Old Man's) good for beginners?
Yes — Old Man's is the friendliest famous wave in America.
How warm is the water at San Onofre (Old Man's)?
Roughly 57°F at its late-winter coldest to about 70°F in late summer. In practice that means a 4/3 in winter and a spring suit in summer. The forecast above shows the current water temperature.
How far out is this forecast reliable?
The wave model has real skill to about 10 days, and we cut the chart there instead of padding it with guesses. Days 1-3 are solid, 4-7 useful, 8-10 a trend heads-up - and we publish our measured error against NOAA buoys, updated continuously.
Forecast from TrueSwell's own physics-based wave model (exposure → refraction → breaking, every swell train separately), built on public NOAA and Open-Meteo data and scored daily against NDBC buoy observations. How the model works →