Huge Waves Hit California Coast: 50-Foot Sets at Mavericks, Pacifica Streets Flooded and More Swells on the Way

Huge waves battered the California coast on Saturday, flooding streets, closing piers and beaches from the Oregon border to Los Angeles County, and sending 50-foot walls of water into the famous big-wave break at Mavericks.

Offshore buoys recorded the largest waves in about a decade, and forecasters warned that the danger is not over: more powerful swells are heading for the coast from Sunday night.

50 to 60 feet at Mavericks

The swell peaked on Saturday morning. Rachel Kennedy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office, told the Los Angeles Times that waves topped 25 feet along much of the coast, with “more localized” sets of 50 to 60 feet at Mavericks, the surf spot off Pillar Point near Half Moon Bay, about 20 miles south of San Francisco.

Big-wave surfers from around the world had raced to Mavericks for the swell. Mark Sponsler, who runs the forecasting site Stormsurf, estimated that the biggest waves there were above 50 feet and possibly close to 60.

A buoy off Point Reyes, north of San Francisco, measured a significant wave height of 31.2 feet on Saturday morning. Significant wave height is the average of the highest third of waves, so individual waves can be much bigger. Kennedy said it was the buoy’s highest reading since 2015; the San Francisco Chronicle reported that only a December 2015 swell, by less than a foot, had been larger in three decades of records.

Pacifica streets flooded

Pacifica, just south of San Francisco, was among the hardest-hit towns. Waves repeatedly broke over the seawall, and roughly every half-hour an especially large set pushed water hundreds of feet inland, according to the Chronicle. Floodwater nearly a foot deep covered part of Highway 1, and residents filled sandbags to protect their homes.

Crowds of onlookers gathered despite the warnings. Several spectators were knocked off their feet by a sneaker wave in a parking lot outside the City Council Chambers, including a mother carrying a toddler, who were helped up by bystanders.

“The beach is not your friend this weekend,” Kennedy said. “You’re putting both yourself and any rescuers in danger if you go on the beach at all.”

Santa Cruz evacuation warnings

In Santa Cruz County, about 270 homes were placed under evacuation warnings, The New York Times reported. Warnings covered low-lying areas including Capitola Village, the Las Olas and Beach Drive neighborhoods of Rio Del Mar, Platform Beach, Potbelly Beach and New Brighton State Beach.

County spokesman Jason Hoppin said no evacuation orders had been issued as of midday Saturday. “We’re seeing some minor flooding, but our infrastructure is holding up so far,” he said.

The City of Santa Cruz closed all city beaches and the Santa Cruz Wharf from Friday night. The wharf was badly damaged by a similar swell in December 2024.

Piers closed in Southern California

The swell reached the length of the state. Manhattan Beach closed its pier, a rare step for one of Los Angeles County’s best-known attractions. The Pismo Beach Pier in San Luis Obispo County was also shut.

Forecasters expected surf of 6 to 9 feet in Los Angeles County, building to 8 to 12 feet, with a high surf advisory in effect through Tuesday afternoon. San Luis Obispo County was forecast to see waves of 10 to 15 feet, building to 18 to 25 feet. Farther north, thousands of people lined clifftop viewpoints on the Sonoma coast to watch the surf.

“No selfie of the crashing waves is worth losing your life,” Roger Gass, a meteorologist at the Weather Service office in Monterey, told The New York Times.

Why the waves are so big

The swell was generated by a storm with hurricane-force winds in the northeast Pacific, near the Gulf of Alaska. Its long wave period, around 19 seconds between crests, meant the waves carried exceptional energy and could surge much farther up beaches than people expect.

The timing is unusual. California’s biggest swells typically arrive between December and January. Forecasters have linked the active pattern to this year’s El Niño.

More waves coming

The first swell was easing by Saturday afternoon, but Kennedy warned it would not be the last. “We are expecting to get a couple more northwesterly swells this week because the Pacific is so active right now,” she said, adding that there “might be subsequent rounds of damaging waves.”

Forecasters expect the next large swell to arrive late Sunday into Monday. Officials are urging residents and visitors to stay off beaches, rocks, jetties and seawalls, never turn their backs on the ocean, and call 911 rather than enter the water if someone is swept away.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle (via The San Francisco Standard), The Press Democrat and Santa Cruz Sentinel reporting on the California high surf (November 13–15, 2026).