Can you snorkel in Santa Cruz today?

Conditions look marginal right now — no clearly safe snorkeling window is forecast in Santa Cruz over the next 72 hours. Check the hourly table for the calmest period.

What is the best time of day to snorkel in Santa Cruz?

Snorkel during daylight, ideally in the morning before the wind picks up, and around high slack tide when water is clearest and currents are weakest. SnorkelForecast scores every daylight hour in Santa Cruz so you can pick the calmest window.

What is the best tide for snorkeling?

High slack tide — within about an hour of the high-tide peak when currents are weakest — is the safest, clearest window. Strong low tides, strong tidal flow near channels or headlands, and large tidal-range days reduce score.

Santa Cruz Snorkel Report Today

Ecuador · Updated Tue 04:14 (-06) · Source: Snapshot · Showing fallback/stale data

The skinny

Marginal Report Wed 01:20

Santa Cruz looks marginal today. The least-bad daylight window is around Wed 07:00, but waves is limiting the forecast.

Score: 4.9/10

Best time: Wed 07:00

Main risk: Waves

Best morning signal: Wed 07:00 (Fair).

Best afternoon signal: Wed 15:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 5.6 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:05

Sunset

18:10

Water

25.9°C

Max air

25.8°C

Sky

Cloudy

74% cloud

No safe window in the next 72 hours

Use the best-available section for the least-bad times.

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Wednesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Wed 13:00 — Fair (0.49) · still limited by waves, tide/current
Wed 14:00 — Fair (0.41) · still limited by waves, tide/current
Wed 21:00 — Fair (0.41) · still limited by waves, tide/current

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (44 hours)
Tide/current (40 hours)
Darkness (22 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

Drift estimate from wind, swell, current and warm water.

Low · 34/100

Low peak drift risk around Wed 09:00.

warm water supports seasonal jellyfish activity; surface drift/current is noticeable; local shoreline exposure is not mapped yet.

Sightings override the model: if you see small purple jellyfish with long trailing tentacles, treat them as sting-capable and give them space.

Upcoming high tides

Next early morning high tide: Wed 14:00

Wed 14:00, Thu 03:00, Thu 15:00

Nearby alternatives in Ecuador

Isabela

76 km away

❌ Poor

San Cristóbal

80 km away

❌ Poor

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Tue 07:00 – Fri 07:00 (-06)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.39 around Tue 08:00; 7 of 24 hours are good, fair, or excellent.

Score trend, higher is better. Excellent ≥ 0.72, good 0.55–0.72, fair 0.35–0.55.

Conditions (24h trends)

Tap a chart to load just that series.

0/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 1.18m to 1.24m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 24/24 sampled hours (range 2.02 to 3.79m/s).

Tides range from -0.15m to 1.09m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Tue 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Scoring methodology (for technical users)

We score each hour from 0 to 1 using daylight and these weighted components:

Wave height (35%): best below 0.36m, then decreases as it rises.
Wind speed (25%): best below 5.4m/s, lower is better.
Sea surface temperature (15%): best within 20.6°C to 30.4°C.
Tide and currents (15%): best around slack/high-tide windows.
Daylight (10%): visibility and safety gate (outside daylight scores lower).

Detailed hourly data table

Time	Wave (m)	Wind (m/s)	Sea temp (°C)	Status
Tue 07:00	1.24 · high	2.16 · good	26.70 · good	poor
Tue 08:00	1.24 · high	2.13 · good	26.70 · good	poor
Tue 09:00	1.24 · high	2.26 · good	26.70 · good	poor
Tue 10:00	1.24 · high	2.02 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Tue 11:00	1.24 · high	2.33 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Tue 12:00	1.24 · high	2.47 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Tue 13:00	1.24 · high	3.08 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Tue 14:00	1.24 · high	3.43 · good	26.60 · good	fair
Tue 15:00	1.24 · high	3.61 · good	26.70 · good	poor
Tue 16:00	1.24 · high	3.61 · good	26.70 · good	poor
Tue 17:00	1.22 · high	3.40 · good	26.70 · good	fair
Tue 18:00	1.22 · high	3.58 · good	26.70 · good	fair
Tue 19:00	1.22 · high	3.74 · good	26.70 · good	fair
Tue 20:00	1.20 · high	3.78 · good	26.80 · good	poor
Tue 21:00	1.20 · high	3.79 · good	26.80 · good	fair
Tue 22:00	1.20 · high	3.46 · good	26.80 · good	fair
Tue 23:00	1.20 · high	3.24 · good	26.80 · good	fair
Wed 00:00	1.20 · high	2.71 · good	26.80 · good	poor
Wed 01:00	1.20 · high	2.60 · good	26.80 · good	poor
Wed 02:00	1.20 · high	2.80 · good	26.70 · good	poor
Wed 03:00	1.20 · high	2.87 · good	26.70 · good	poor
Wed 04:00	1.20 · high	3.11 · good	26.70 · good	poor
Wed 05:00	1.18 · high	3.45 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Wed 06:00	1.18 · high	3.55 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Wed 07:00	1.18 · high	3.45 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Wed 08:00	1.18 · high	3.25 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Wed 09:00	1.18 · high	3.21 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Wed 10:00	1.18 · high	3.18 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Wed 11:00	1.18 · high	2.98 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Wed 12:00	1.18 · high	3.42 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Wed 13:00	1.18 · high	3.72 · good	26.50 · good	fair
Wed 14:00	1.20 · high	3.94 · good	26.50 · good	fair
Wed 15:00	1.20 · high	4.20 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Wed 16:00	1.20 · high	4.55 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Wed 17:00	1.22 · high	4.95 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Wed 18:00	1.22 · high	4.97 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Wed 19:00	1.22 · high	4.73 · good	26.60 · good	fair
Wed 20:00	1.24 · high	4.71 · good	26.60 · good	fair
Wed 21:00	1.24 · high	4.71 · good	26.60 · good	fair
Wed 22:00	1.24 · high	4.65 · good	26.60 · good	fair
Wed 23:00	1.24 · high	4.19 · good	26.60 · good	fair
Thu 00:00	1.24 · high	3.35 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Thu 01:00	1.22 · high	3.03 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Thu 02:00	1.22 · high	3.17 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Thu 03:00	1.20 · high	3.56 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Thu 04:00	1.18 · high	3.06 · good	26.60 · good	poor
Thu 05:00	1.18 · high	3.15 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Thu 06:00	1.16 · high	3.06 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Thu 07:00	1.16 · high	2.85 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Thu 08:00	1.14 · high	2.97 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Thu 09:00	1.18 · high	2.95 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Thu 10:00	1.18 · high	3.45 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Thu 11:00	1.16 · high	3.57 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Thu 12:00	1.16 · high	3.55 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Thu 13:00	1.16 · high	4.01 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Thu 14:00	1.14 · high	4.31 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Thu 15:00	1.14 · high	4.50 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Thu 16:00	1.14 · high	4.70 · good	26.50 · good	fair
Thu 17:00	1.14 · high	4.95 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Thu 18:00	1.14 · high	5.05 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Thu 19:00	1.14 · high	4.85 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Thu 20:00	1.12 · high	4.56 · good	26.50 · good	fair
Thu 21:00	1.12 · high	4.16 · good	26.50 · good	fair
Thu 22:00	1.12 · high	4.06 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Thu 23:00	1.10 · high	3.83 · good	26.50 · good	fair
Fri 00:00	1.10 · high	3.44 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Fri 01:00	1.10 · high	3.30 · good	26.50 · good	poor
Fri 02:00	1.10 · high	3.11 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Fri 03:00	1.10 · high	3.18 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Fri 04:00	1.10 · high	2.94 · good	26.40 · good	poor
Fri 05:00	1.12 · high	2.81 · good	26.30 · good	poor
Fri 06:00	1.12 · high	3.01 · good	26.30 · good	poor