BETAFree to explore during beta. Some atlas tools will become membership features. Surf Insights stays free.Support the project ↗
PURESURFERSLIVE SURF ATLAS
CALIFORNIA / San OnofreSPOT / 665

Old Man's.

Long boards. Longer perspective.

Right-dominant33.370° N / 117.567° W
Color satellite and aerial imagery centered on the approximate Old Man's catalogue locationSATELLITE / N ↑
Satellite / aerial view · centred on the approximate catalogue pin. Not live imagery.
Powered by Esri · Esri, Vantor, Earthstar Geographics, and the GIS User Community.
CLOSE-UP / N ↑
OPEN THE LIVE ATLAS ↗
Approximate catalogue pin · check the actual shoreline. © OpenStreetMap contributors
Open Old Man's on the map ↗Best surf near me

Forecast & tide at a glance

Estimated surf face · feet · Pacific time. The existing PureSurfers face-estimation engine; not a measured or calibrated breaking-wave report.

Estimated surf face2.0 ftOlder cached forecast Wed Nov 11, 6:00pm Pacific
Coastal wind5.4 mphN from · older cache
NOAA tide reference0.2 ftMLLW · La Jolla

READ THE INDIVIDUAL SWELLS

Swell by swell.

Offshore component height (Hs), not surf-face height. Directions are where waves come from. Component heights do not add together.

Wed Nov 11, 6:00pm Pacific

GFS · 4 components
Primary swell
1.2ft Hs

SSW from · 207° · 14.5 s

1.2 feet
Wind sea
0.7ft Hs

WNW from · 291° · 2.2 s

0.7 feet
Secondary swell
1.2ft Hs

W from · 280° · 12.9 s

1.2 feet
Tertiary swell
0.4ft Hs

S from · 183° · 10.5 s

0.4 feet
MFWAM · 2 components
Primary swell
2.3ft Hs

W from · 278° · 9.4 s

2.3 feet
Wind sea
0.1ft Hs

NW from · 311° · 0.7 s

0.1 feet

Each model supplies its own partitions. Missing components remain unavailable; another model’s primary swell is not automatically the same wave system.

Coastal wind retrieved Wed Nov 11, 3:48pm · older cache. This is regional modeled wind, not a beach measurement.

Source retrievals: GFS Nov 11, 4:04pm (older cache) · ECMWF Nov 11, 4:04pm (older cache) · MFWAM Nov 11, 4:04pm (older cache). Retrieval time is not the model issue time. This page combines all available cached model families; map model selections are separate.

Tide predictions: La Jolla, 63 km reference; retrieved Wed Nov 11, 6:10pm. Station predictions can differ locally.

Seven-day overview

06:00–19:00 forecast hours; daily values are not a full-day maximum.
Pacific dayEstimated surf faceMean windHours available
Wed Nov 112.0 ft5.6 mph14/14
Thu Nov 122.2 ft5.8 mph14/14
Fri Nov 132.6 ft8.0 mph14/14
Sat Nov 143.4 ft4.1 mph14/14
Sun Nov 152.8 ft5.0 mph14/14
Mon Nov 162.6 ft4.6 mph14/14
Tue Nov 172.2 ft5.5 mph14/14
Hourly details · next 72 hours
Pacific timeEstimated surf faceModel rangeSet proxySwell fromWindTide MLLWModels
Wed 6:00pm2.0 ft1.2–2.4 ft3.1 ftW · 12.2 s5.4 mph N0.2 ft3
Wed 7:00pm2.0 ft1.2–2.4 ft3.0 ftWSW · 12.8 s4.3 mph NNW1.0 ft3
Wed 8:00pm2.1 ft1.2–2.5 ft3.1 ftWSW · 12.8 s2.9 mph NW1.8 ft3
Wed 9:00pm2.1 ft1.3–2.5 ft3.1 ftWSW · 12.7 s2.2 mph NE2.6 ft3
Wed 10:00pm2.1 ft1.2–2.5 ft3.1 ftWSW · 12.7 s4.8 mph ESE3.1 ft3
Wed 11:00pm2.1 ft1.2–2.6 ft3.1 ftWSW · 12.7 s6.2 mph ESE3.3 ft3
Thu 12:00am2.1 ft1.2–2.5 ft3.1 ftWSW · 12.7 s6.4 mph ESE3.2 ft3
Thu 1:00am2.1 ft1.3–2.6 ft3.2 ftWSW · 12.7 s5.1 mph ESE3.0 ft3
Thu 2:00am2.1 ft1.3–2.6 ft3.2 ftWSW · 12.7 s2.9 mph ESE2.8 ft3
Thu 3:00am2.1 ft1.2–2.6 ft3.1 ftWSW · 12.7 s2.5 mph NNE2.6 ft3
Thu 4:00am2.1 ft1.2–2.6 ft3.2 ftSW · 12.7 s4.4 mph NNE2.8 ft3
Thu 5:00am2.1 ft1.2–2.7 ft3.2 ftSW · 12.7 s4.3 mph NE3.2 ft3
Thu 6:00am2.1 ft1.2–2.7 ft3.2 ftSW · 12.7 s3.2 mph NE3.8 ft3
Thu 7:00am2.1 ft1.2–2.7 ft3.2 ftSW · 12.7 s3.6 mph ENE4.5 ft3
Thu 8:00am2.1 ft1.2–2.7 ft3.2 ftSW · 12.8 s3.0 mph E5.1 ft3
Thu 9:00am2.2 ft1.3–2.7 ft3.2 ftSW · 12.8 s1.4 mph NNW5.5 ft3
Thu 10:00am2.2 ft1.3–2.7 ft3.2 ftSW · 12.9 s4.4 mph SSW5.5 ft3
Thu 11:00am2.2 ft1.3–2.7 ft3.3 ftSW · 12.9 s6.9 mph SSW5.1 ft3
Thu 12:00pm2.2 ft1.3–2.8 ft3.3 ftSW · 13.0 s6.2 mph SW4.3 ft3
Thu 1:00pm2.2 ft1.3–2.8 ft3.3 ftSW · 13.0 s7.8 mph SW3.2 ft3
Thu 2:00pm2.2 ft1.4–2.8 ft3.3 ftSW · 13.1 s8.1 mph WSW2.1 ft3
Thu 3:00pm2.2 ft1.4–2.8 ft3.4 ftSW · 13.1 s8.1 mph SW1.1 ft3
Thu 4:00pm2.4 ft1.8–2.8 ft3.6 ftSW · 13.1 s6.2 mph SW0.3 ft3
Thu 5:00pm2.3 ft1.4–2.8 ft3.4 ftSW · 13.0 s6.4 mph S0.0 ft3
Thu 6:00pm2.3 ft1.4–2.8 ft3.4 ftSW · 13.0 s8.3 mph S0.1 ft3
Thu 7:00pm2.3 ft1.4–2.8 ft3.4 ftSW · 13.0 s8.1 mph SSE0.6 ft3
Thu 8:00pm2.3 ft1.5–2.8 ft3.5 ftSW · 13.0 s8.3 mph S1.2 ft3
Thu 9:00pm2.3 ft1.5–2.8 ft3.5 ftSW · 13.1 s8.6 mph S2.0 ft3
Thu 10:00pm2.3 ft1.4–2.8 ft3.5 ftSW · 13.1 s8.4 mph S2.6 ft3
Thu 11:00pm2.4 ft1.5–2.8 ft3.6 ftSW · 13.2 s8.6 mph S3.0 ft3
Fri 12:00am2.4 ft1.5–2.8 ft3.6 ftSW · 13.3 s7.8 mph SE3.1 ft3
Fri 1:00am2.4 ft1.6–2.9 ft3.6 ftSW · 13.4 s12.2 mph ESE3.1 ft3
Fri 2:00am2.5 ft1.6–2.9 ft3.7 ftW · 13.1 s13.2 mph ESE3.0 ft3
Fri 3:00am2.5 ft1.6–3.0 ft3.7 ftW · 13.1 s13.0 mph SE2.9 ft3
Fri 4:00am2.5 ft1.6–3.0 ft3.8 ftW · 13.1 s13.3 mph ESE2.9 ft3
Fri 5:00am2.5 ft1.6–3.0 ft3.8 ftW · 13.1 s14.5 mph SE3.1 ft3
Fri 6:00am2.5 ft1.6–3.1 ft3.8 ftW · 13.2 s22.1 mph S3.5 ft3
Fri 7:00am2.5 ft1.6–3.1 ft3.8 ftW · 13.3 s6.1 mph S4.1 ft3
Fri 8:00am2.5 ft1.7–3.1 ft3.8 ftW · 13.3 s7.2 mph SSW4.6 ft3
Fri 9:00am2.5 ft1.6–3.1 ft3.8 ftW · 13.3 s7.7 mph S5.0 ft3
Fri 10:00am2.5 ft1.6–3.1 ft3.8 ftW · 13.2 s8.5 mph SE5.2 ft3
Fri 11:00am2.5 ft1.6–3.1 ft3.8 ftW · 13.1 s6.7 mph SSE5.1 ft3
Fri 12:00pm2.5 ft1.6–3.2 ft3.8 ftW · 13.0 s8.1 mph S4.6 ft3
Fri 1:00pm2.5 ft1.6–3.1 ft3.8 ftW · 12.8 s9.9 mph SSW3.8 ft3
Fri 2:00pm2.5 ft1.6–3.1 ft3.8 ftW · 12.5 s7.6 mph SW2.8 ft3
Fri 3:00pm2.6 ft1.6–3.2 ft3.8 ftW · 12.2 s7.4 mph SW1.9 ft3
Fri 4:00pm2.6 ft1.6–3.2 ft3.9 ftW · 11.9 s5.9 mph SW1.0 ft3
Fri 5:00pm2.6 ft1.6–3.2 ft3.9 ftW · 11.7 s5.7 mph SW0.5 ft3
Fri 6:00pm2.6 ft1.7–3.3 ft3.9 ftW · 11.5 s5.4 mph WSW0.3 ft3
Fri 7:00pm2.6 ft1.7–3.3 ft4.0 ftW · 11.4 s4.3 mph WSW0.4 ft3
Fri 8:00pm2.7 ft1.7–3.4 ft4.0 ftW · 11.4 s4.7 mph W0.8 ft3
Fri 9:00pm2.7 ft1.7–3.5 ft4.1 ftW · 11.5 s4.5 mph W1.4 ft3
Fri 10:00pm2.7 ft1.7–3.5 ft4.0 ftW · 11.4 s4.7 mph W2.0 ft3
Fri 11:00pm2.8 ft1.7–3.6 ft4.2 ftW · 11.1 s6.1 mph W2.6 ft3
Sat 12:00am2.8 ft1.7–3.7 ft4.2 ftWSW · 10.7 s6.8 mph WNW2.9 ft3
Sat 1:00am2.9 ft1.8–3.8 ft4.4 ftWSW · 10.4 s7.2 mph WNW3.1 ft3
Sat 2:00am2.9 ft1.8–3.9 ft4.4 ftWSW · 10.0 s7.6 mph W3.1 ft3
Sat 3:00am3.0 ft1.8–4.0 ft4.6 ftWSW · 9.7 s7.2 mph W3.1 ft3
Sat 4:00am3.1 ft1.8–4.0 ft4.6 ftW · 9.5 s6.5 mph W3.0 ft3
Sat 5:00am3.1 ft1.8–4.0 ft4.6 ftW · 9.7 s7.3 mph W3.1 ft3
Sat 6:00am3.1 ft1.8–3.9 ft4.6 ftW · 10.0 s4.8 mph WSW3.3 ft3
Sat 7:00am3.2 ft2.1–3.9 ft4.8 ftW · 10.4 s4.2 mph SSW3.7 ft3
Sat 8:00am3.2 ft2.1–3.9 ft4.8 ftW · 10.8 s4.8 mph SW4.1 ft3
Sat 9:00am3.2 ft2.1–4.0 ft4.8 ftW · 11.2 s4.5 mph SSW4.5 ft3
Sat 10:00am3.5 ft2.9–4.0 ft5.3 ftW · 11.5 s3.8 mph S4.8 ft3
Sat 11:00am3.6 ft3.0–4.0 ft5.3 ftW · 11.9 s5.2 mph SE4.9 ft3
Sat 12:00pm3.6 ft3.0–4.1 ft5.4 ftW · 12.2 s5.4 mph SE4.6 ft3
Sat 1:00pm3.3 ft2.1–4.1 ft5.0 ftW · 12.6 s3.8 mph SSE4.2 ft3
Sat 2:00pm3.4 ft2.2–4.2 ft5.1 ftW · 12.9 s2.0 mph S3.4 ft3
Sat 3:00pm3.4 ft2.3–4.1 ft5.1 ftW · 13.1 s2.2 mph SW2.6 ft3
Sat 4:00pm3.4 ft2.3–4.2 ft5.1 ftW · 13.3 s3.8 mph SW1.8 ft3
Sat 5:00pm3.4 ft2.2–4.2 ft5.1 ftW · 13.4 s4.5 mph WSW1.1 ft3
Sat 6:00pm3.4 ft2.2–4.1 ft5.0 ftW · 13.5 s4.5 mph W0.7 ft3

Model spread is not a confidence interval. Tide and wind are context, not new corrections to surf size. Larger sets and changing hazards remain possible.

This page reads the shared cache first. Refresh requests only this spot’s existing regional samples.

Know the spot

Old Man’s is the San Onofre catalogue’s softer, right-dominant cobble setup, with the longboard character that makes it a different session from nearby Trestles.

Break type
Point / cobble
Wave direction
Right-dominant
Reported difficulty
Beginner–intermediate
Bottom
Rock / reef
Reported swell preference
S–W
Reported tide preference
All tides

Included as a must-have reference. The right is iconic, but the zone’s supporting shoulders and reforms create occasional left opportunities. Source note: Imported 6.8 catalogue; place and confirm the takeoff.

Before paddling out: Crowds, slow-moving learners and collision risk.

Public access Owner-placed takeoff; not a survey

Source references

Provenance is not proof that every inherited claim or current access condition has been rechecked.

THE FIELD GUIDE / Old Man's

Read this stretch of coast.

Read the glide through the inside

Watch how a rider links the first shoulder to the slower sections and where the ride finally ends. A mellow-looking wave can keep a large board moving through a crowded area. Leave room for that whole path when choosing where to wait or paddle back out.

Period belongs beside height

Compare swell period and incoming direction as well as offshore height. Then watch whether today’s waves keep their shape through the softer parts of the ride. The catalogue’s broad tide description cannot tell you whether a particular section is fading or exposing cobble at the moment you arrive.

Keep the San Onofre visit specific

Use the official park information to identify the Surf Beach facilities and current notices. San Onofre has several distinct areas; a destination name does not establish that every entrance serves the same break. Once there, inspect the bottom, crowd spacing and shore entry before choosing a wave.

Further reading: California State Parks · San Onofre

A useful note for next time

Record the section you actually surfed, the time, incoming swell direction and period, wind and tide trend. Add what the wave did: connected sections, closeouts, drift or exposed obstacles. Comparing that observation with the same model next time is more useful than treating one colored number as the whole session.

Camera references nearby

San Clemente beach camera ↗

City of San Clemente · about 7.4 km from the catalogue pin · video-page

City beach-camera player with linked weather and water information.

Links to third-party camera pages, not owned feeds. Proximity does not confirm the camera sees this break. Playback and image freshness have not been verified by this page.

Make the next session easier

Lineup etiquette · Paddling technique · How these forecasts work

Nearby spots to compare

PureSurfers is built by Peter Ochabski. Spot profiles combine retained sources and contributor observations; this is not a claim he has surfed or verified every entry.

COASTAL WAVE GUIDANCE

Waves at the model cells

Awaiting shared model data

Significant wave height (Hs) before the legacy spot reduction. This is not a measured breaking-face or set range.

Nearshore and buoy trends load here. Coverage and observation times are shown separately.