Can you snorkel in La Jolla Cove today?

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

What is the best time of day to snorkel in La Jolla Cove?

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 La Jolla Cove 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.

La Jolla Cove Snorkel Report Today

USA · Updated Tue 04:14 (EDT) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Marginal Report Tue 14:09

La Jolla Cove looks marginal today. The least-bad daylight window is around Thu 09:00, but waves is limiting the forecast.

Score: 5.1/10

Best time: Thu 09:00

Main risk: Waves

No useful morning window is showing yet.

Best afternoon signal: Tue 19:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 3.9 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

08:55

Sunset

22:55

Water

23.2°C

Max air

24.2°C

Sky

Clear

18% 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

Tuesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Wednesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Thu 13:00 — Fair (0.51) · still limited by waves, tide/current
Thu 14:00 — Fair (0.51) · still limited by waves, tide/current
Tue 23:00 — Fair (0.51) · still limited by waves, tide/current

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (57 hours)
Tide/current (57 hours)
Darkness (30 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 29/100

Low peak drift risk around Tue 19:00.

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 12:00

Wed 12:00, Thu 00:00, Thu 14:00, Fri 00:00

Nearby alternatives in USA

Catalina Island

122 km away

✅ Good

Crystal River

3324 km away

✅ Good

Dry Tortugas

3459 km away

❌ Poor

Looe Key

3599 km away

⚠️ Fair

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Mon 18:00 – Thu 18:00 (EDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.53 around Tue 11:00; 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 0.78m to 0.82m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 24/24 sampled hours (range 0.58 to 3.96m/s).

Tides range from -1.18m to 1.49m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Mon 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

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 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

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 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

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

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
Mon 18:00	0.80 · high	2.00 · good	21.10 · good	fair
Mon 19:00	0.80 · high	2.25 · good	21.20 · good	fair
Mon 20:00	0.80 · high	2.20 · good	21.30 · good	fair
Mon 21:00	0.80 · high	3.29 · good	21.40 · good	fair
Mon 22:00	0.80 · high	3.10 · good	21.50 · good	fair
Mon 23:00	0.78 · high	3.06 · good	21.60 · good	fair
Tue 00:00	0.78 · high	3.53 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Tue 01:00	0.78 · high	3.96 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Tue 02:00	0.80 · high	3.77 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Tue 03:00	0.80 · high	3.40 · good	21.40 · good	poor
Tue 04:00	0.80 · high	2.95 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Tue 05:00	0.80 · high	2.27 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Tue 06:00	0.80 · high	1.64 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Tue 07:00	0.80 · high	0.58 · good	21.00 · good	poor
Tue 08:00	0.80 · high	1.48 · good	20.90 · good	poor
Tue 09:00	0.80 · high	2.12 · good	20.80 · good	poor
Tue 10:00	0.80 · high	0.94 · good	20.70 · good	poor
Tue 11:00	0.82 · high	1.20 · good	20.60 · good	poor
Tue 12:00	0.82 · high	1.33 · good	20.60 · good	poor
Tue 13:00	0.82 · high	1.41 · good	20.60 · good	fair
Tue 14:00	0.80 · high	1.73 · good	20.70 · good	fair
Tue 15:00	0.80 · high	1.14 · good	20.70 · good	fair
Tue 16:00	0.80 · high	1.39 · good	20.80 · good	fair
Tue 17:00	0.80 · high	3.28 · good	20.90 · good	fair
Tue 18:00	0.80 · high	2.33 · good	21.00 · good	fair
Tue 19:00	0.80 · high	3.04 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Tue 20:00	0.82 · high	4.20 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Tue 21:00	0.82 · high	4.73 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Tue 22:00	0.84 · high	4.46 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Tue 23:00	0.86 · high	3.92 · good	21.40 · good	fair
Wed 00:00	0.88 · high	3.74 · good	21.40 · good	poor
Wed 01:00	0.88 · high	3.32 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Wed 02:00	0.88 · high	2.64 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Wed 03:00	0.88 · high	2.21 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Wed 04:00	0.88 · high	1.90 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Wed 05:00	0.88 · high	1.70 · good	21.00 · good	poor
Wed 06:00	0.88 · high	1.61 · good	20.90 · good	poor
Wed 07:00	0.78 · high	1.46 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Wed 08:00	0.80 · high	0.76 · good	21.00 · good	poor
Wed 09:00	0.80 · high	1.04 · good	20.90 · good	poor
Wed 10:00	0.80 · high	0.71 · good	20.80 · good	poor
Wed 11:00	0.82 · high	1.86 · good	20.80 · good	poor
Wed 12:00	0.82 · high	2.50 · good	20.80 · good	poor
Wed 13:00	0.82 · high	2.62 · good	20.80 · good	fair
Wed 14:00	0.80 · high	1.80 · good	20.90 · good	fair
Wed 15:00	0.80 · high	0.98 · good	21.00 · good	fair
Wed 16:00	0.80 · high	0.85 · good	21.10 · good	fair
Wed 17:00	0.80 · high	2.26 · good	21.20 · good	fair
Wed 18:00	0.80 · high	2.71 · good	21.40 · good	fair
Wed 19:00	0.80 · high	3.14 · good	21.60 · good	fair
Wed 20:00	0.80 · high	3.42 · good	21.90 · good	fair
Wed 21:00	0.80 · high	3.72 · good	22.20 · good	fair
Wed 22:00	0.80 · high	3.83 · good	22.40 · good	fair
Wed 23:00	0.78 · high	2.82 · good	22.70 · good	fair
Thu 00:00	0.78 · high	2.26 · good	22.80 · good	poor
Thu 01:00	0.78 · high	1.75 · good	22.80 · good	poor
Thu 02:00	0.76 · high	2.20 · good	22.70 · good	poor
Thu 03:00	0.76 · high	3.23 · good	22.60 · good	poor
Thu 04:00	0.76 · high	3.71 · good	22.40 · good	poor
Thu 05:00	0.76 · high	2.63 · good	22.30 · good	poor
Thu 06:00	0.76 · high	2.79 · good	22.10 · good	poor
Thu 07:00	0.76 · high	2.71 · good	22.00 · good	poor
Thu 08:00	0.76 · high	3.35 · good	21.90 · good	poor
Thu 09:00	0.76 · high	3.73 · good	21.80 · good	poor
Thu 10:00	0.80 · high	3.35 · good	21.70 · good	poor
Thu 11:00	0.82 · high	3.91 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Thu 12:00	0.86 · high	4.12 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Thu 13:00	0.88 · high	3.50 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Thu 14:00	0.92 · high	3.16 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Thu 15:00	0.94 · high	4.43 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Thu 16:00	0.96 · high	5.21 · good	21.60 · good	fair
Thu 17:00	1.00 · high	6.17 · high	21.70 · good	poor