Can you snorkel in Catalina Island today?

Yes. The next good snorkeling window in Catalina Island starts Thu 13:00 and lasts until 15:00. Around 7% of the next 72 hours are suitable.

What is the best time of day to snorkel in Catalina Island?

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 Catalina Island 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.

Catalina Island Snorkel Report Today

USA · Updated Tue 04:14 (EDT) · Source: Snapshot · Showing fallback/stale data

The skinny

Go in the best window Report Wed 02:01

Catalina Island has a usable snorkeling window around Thu 09:00. The main thing to watch is waves.

Score: 4.4/10

Best time: Thu 09:00

Main risk: Waves

Best morning signal: Wed 11:00 (Fair).

Best afternoon signal: Wed 12:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 8.7 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

08:59

Sunset

23:00

Water

21.8°C

Max air

22.0°C

Sky

Clear

0% cloud

Good window is available today

Next safe window: Thu 13:00–15:00 (7% of next 72h are suitable)

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Wednesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

✅ good conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Next safe window starts at Thu 13:00 until 15:00.

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (45 hours)
Wind (29 hours)
Tide/current (24 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 23/100

Low peak drift risk around Wed 13:00.

water is warm enough for occasional jellyfish; 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

Thu 00:00, Thu 14:00

Nearby alternatives in USA

La Jolla Cove

122 km away

❌ Poor

Crystal River

3429 km away

✅ Good

Dry Tortugas

3572 km away

❌ Poor

Looe Key

3711 km away

❌ Poor

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Wed 06:00 – Sat 06:00 (EDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.58 around Wed 15:00; 11 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 1.26m to 1.52m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 22/24 sampled hours (range 0.67 to 5.89m/s).

Tides range from -0.25m to 0.92m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

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 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 19:00 good 🌟 Good

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 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

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

Fri 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 05:00 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
Wed 06:00	1.48 · high	2.65 · good	20.10 · out of range	poor
Wed 07:00	1.50 · high	2.06 · good	20.10 · out of range	poor
Wed 08:00	1.50 · high	2.15 · good	20.00 · out of range	poor
Wed 09:00	1.52 · high	1.84 · good	20.00 · out of range	poor
Wed 10:00	1.52 · high	2.06 · good	19.90 · out of range	poor
Wed 11:00	1.50 · high	2.28 · good	19.90 · out of range	poor
Wed 12:00	1.50 · high	2.46 · good	19.90 · out of range	poor
Wed 13:00	1.48 · high	2.12 · good	20.00 · out of range	fair
Wed 14:00	1.46 · high	2.43 · good	20.00 · out of range	fair
Wed 15:00	1.44 · high	3.05 · good	20.10 · out of range	fair
Wed 16:00	1.42 · high	2.15 · good	20.20 · out of range	fair
Wed 17:00	1.38 · high	1.70 · good	20.30 · out of range	fair
Wed 18:00	1.36 · high	1.20 · good	20.40 · out of range	fair
Wed 19:00	1.34 · high	0.67 · good	20.40 · out of range	good
Wed 20:00	1.30 · high	2.28 · good	20.50 · out of range	fair
Wed 21:00	1.28 · high	3.94 · good	20.60 · good	fair
Wed 22:00	1.28 · high	5.57 · high	20.70 · good	fair
Wed 23:00	1.26 · high	5.89 · high	20.70 · good	fair
Thu 00:00	1.26 · high	4.80 · good	20.70 · good	poor
Thu 01:00	1.28 · high	4.73 · good	20.70 · good	poor
Thu 02:00	1.30 · high	4.18 · good	20.70 · good	poor
Thu 03:00	1.32 · high	3.35 · good	20.60 · good	poor
Thu 04:00	1.34 · high	2.33 · good	20.50 · out of range	poor
Thu 05:00	1.34 · high	2.30 · good	20.50 · out of range	poor
Thu 06:00	1.36 · high	1.75 · good	20.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 07:00	1.36 · high	1.94 · good	20.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 08:00	1.36 · high	3.56 · good	20.30 · out of range	poor
Thu 09:00	1.48 · high	1.96 · good	20.10 · out of range	poor
Thu 10:00	1.46 · high	0.20 · good	20.10 · out of range	poor
Thu 11:00	1.46 · high	0.86 · good	20.10 · out of range	poor
Thu 12:00	1.44 · high	1.50 · good	20.10 · out of range	poor
Thu 13:00	1.42 · high	1.20 · good	20.20 · out of range	fair
Thu 14:00	1.38 · high	1.27 · good	20.20 · out of range	fair
Thu 15:00	1.36 · high	1.34 · good	20.30 · out of range	fair
Thu 16:00	1.34 · high	0.32 · good	20.30 · out of range	fair
Thu 17:00	1.32 · high	0.64 · good	20.40 · out of range	fair
Thu 18:00	1.30 · high	0.98 · good	20.60 · good	fair
Thu 19:00	1.28 · high	1.12 · good	20.80 · good	fair
Thu 20:00	1.26 · high	1.70 · good	21.00 · good	fair
Thu 21:00	1.24 · high	1.87 · good	21.30 · good	fair
Thu 22:00	1.22 · high	1.79 · good	21.60 · good	fair
Thu 23:00	1.18 · high	1.53 · good	21.80 · good	fair
Fri 00:00	1.16 · high	1.34 · good	21.90 · good	poor
Fri 01:00	1.14 · high	1.08 · good	21.90 · good	poor
Fri 02:00	1.12 · high	0.71 · good	21.80 · good	poor
Fri 03:00	1.10 · high	0.73 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Fri 04:00	1.08 · high	1.20 · good	21.40 · good	poor
Fri 05:00	1.08 · high	1.71 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Fri 06:00	1.06 · high	1.92 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Fri 07:00	1.06 · high	2.20 · good	21.00 · good	poor
Fri 08:00	1.06 · high	2.06 · good	21.00 · good	poor
Fri 09:00	1.06 · high	2.98 · good	20.90 · good	poor
Fri 10:00	1.06 · high	3.42 · good	20.80 · good	poor
Fri 11:00	1.04 · high	3.23 · good	20.80 · good	poor
Fri 12:00	1.04 · high	3.01 · good	20.80 · good	poor
Fri 13:00	1.04 · high	2.48 · good	20.80 · good	fair
Fri 14:00	1.04 · high	2.95 · good	20.70 · good	fair
Fri 15:00	1.04 · high	4.39 · good	20.70 · good	fair
Fri 16:00	1.02 · high	4.31 · good	20.70 · good	fair
Fri 17:00	1.02 · high	3.45 · good	20.80 · good	fair
Fri 18:00	1.00 · high	4.25 · good	20.80 · good	fair
Fri 19:00	0.98 · high	2.73 · good	20.90 · good	fair
Fri 20:00	0.98 · high	1.50 · good	21.00 · good	fair
Fri 21:00	0.96 · high	1.60 · good	21.20 · good	fair
Fri 22:00	0.94 · high	2.47 · good	21.30 · good	fair
Fri 23:00	0.94 · high	2.93 · good	21.40 · good	fair
Sat 00:00	0.92 · high	2.01 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sat 01:00	0.90 · high	2.00 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sat 02:00	0.90 · high	1.46 · good	21.40 · good	poor
Sat 03:00	0.88 · high	0.78 · good	21.40 · good	poor
Sat 04:00	0.88 · high	1.09 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Sat 05:00	0.86 · high	1.37 · good	21.20 · good	poor