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Surf, wind and tide for Pensacola Beach

How’s the surf? – ft Loading the latest from NOAA…
 /10

Wind – mph
Water –°F
Beach flag Loading… Posted by Pensacola Beach Lifeguards. Opens the county flag page.

The week ahead

What the ratings mean

Poor0–3

Flat, tiny, or blown out. Not worth the trip.

Fair4–5

Small but rideable. A longboard or beginner day.

Good6–7

A real Gulf day. Worth calling in “sick.”

Epic8–10

Rare: a good swell with clean wind.

Scores out of 10 combine wave size at the beach, swell period and wind. Tuned for Pensacola, where an 8 is a great day.

Session Planner

Waves and wind every 3 hours · NWS wave model, Pensacola Beach
Waves 3 ft+ Waves under 3 ft Wind speed (mph, right scale and Wind row) ↓Arrows under the wind speeds point where the wind blows; bigger arrows = stronger wind Night Best upcoming window (in its rating color)
How to read it look for tall bars while the teal wind line is low and the arrows point down (wind from the north, blowing out to sea). Under the bars, Period is the wave period in seconds (higher means more power) and Wind is the wind speed in mph (bold at 15 mph and up).

Offshore buoys right now

0 90 180 270 Shoreline: GSHHG (NOAA)

Tide

Did you know? Pensacola has a diurnal tide: usually just one high and one low a day, while most U.S. beaches get two of each. It only moves about 1–2 ft, so wind and swell matter more here than tide. Some days a small extra high and low sneak in.

NOAA tide predictions · Pensacola station 8729840 · feet above mean lower low water

Reading today’s numbers

Swell period: how much power is in the waves

NOW – ▼
ChopWindGoodGroundswell 10 s+
LAND GULF

Wind: offshore or onshore

What makes up the waves at the buoy

Swell + wind chop = the waves you see
Swell Made by wind far away. Arrives smooth and spaced out. This is what you ride.
Wind chop Made by the wind blowing right here, right now. Short, steep and bumpy.
Total What the buoy measures. Heights combine by energy, not by adding.
Rule of thumb: the bigger the teal share, the cleaner the waves. Mostly mustard means bumpy, weak surf.
Why this score?
NWS surf zone forecast
PeriodSurfRip riskWind
Sunrise & sunset
DayFirst lightSunriseSunsetLast light

Surf Report 101

New to reading a surf forecast? Learn what period, swell, wind and rip risk really mean on the Gulf in eight short lessons.

Start learning →
Period beats heightWhy 2 ft at 9 seconds beats 4 ft at 4 seconds. Offshore vs onshoreThe wind switch that makes a Gulf session. Rip currentsWhat the flags mean and how to get out of one.

Pensacola Surf Report is a free surf forecast for Pensacola Beach, Florida. It reads surf height, swell, swell period, wind and tides straight from NOAA buoys 42012 and 42039, the National Weather Service Mobile surf zone forecast and NOAA tide station 8729840, then rates every morning and afternoon from 0 to 10 for our stretch of the Gulf, from the Gulf Pier and Casino Beach to Park East and Fort Pickens. Check the Pensacola Beach surf cams, learn how to read a surf forecast in Surf Report 101, or see how the rating works.