Check the Beach

Swift Beach

Santa Cruz County, California, United States

Swift Beach 5 photos

  • 2025-08-11 16 34 33 The beach and the last remaining natural bridge at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, California

    2025-08-11 16 34 33 The beach and the last remaining natural bridge at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, California. Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source

  • Low tide in Santa Cruz with tide pools

    Low tide in Santa Cruz with tide pools. Grendelkhan, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source

  • Coastline from W Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz 2023-07-16

    Coastline from W Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz 2023-07-16. The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source

  • A New Day

    A New Day. Cayetano Gil, CC BY 3.0. Source

  • Photographer on the cliff

    Photographer on the cliff. Don DeBold from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0. Source

Tomorrow at a glance

Best: 1 pm to sunset, sunset 6:20 pm
8 am
6.5
8 km/h5 mph wind, Good
9 am
6.4
6 km/h4 mph wind, Good
10 am
6.2
4 km/h2 mph wind, Good
11 am
6.1
5 km/h3 mph wind, Good
12 pm
6.5
7 km/h5 mph wind, Good
1 pm
6.8
11 km/h7 mph wind, Good
2 pm
6.7
13 km/h8 mph wind, Good
3 pm
7.3
8 km/h5 mph wind, Great
4 pm
7.7
6 km/h4 mph wind, Great
5 pm
7.7
11 km/h7 mph wind, Great
6 pm
7.4
11 km/h7 mph wind, Great

This page puts what matters first for today's conditions.

Best time to swim

Best: 1 pm to sunset. Beach score for daylight hours, with wind in km/hmph underneath.

Air
14°C57°F
Water
18°C65°F
Wind
106 km/hmph WNW
Gusts
2113 km/hmph
Waves
1.4 m4 ft
UV
0 low
Tide
falling
Rain
13%
Sunset
6:20 pm
Today
4.5Fair8 am64
4.7Fair9 am53
4.7Fair10 am117
4.5Fair11 am138
4.2Fair12 pm75
4.3Fair1 pm53
3.9Poor2 pm106
2.2Poor3 pm85
4.3Fair4 pm75
4.4Fair5 pm21
5.8Good6 pm53
Fri
6.5Good8 am85
6.4Good9 am64
6.2Good10 am42
6.1Good11 am53
6.5Good12 pm75
6.8Good1 pm117
6.7Good2 pm138
7.3Great3 pm85
7.7Great4 pm64
7.7Great5 pm117
7.4Great6 pm117
Green, 7 and upYellow, 4 to 7Red, under 4Best stretch

Tide, next 24 hours

Tide falling now. Low at 2 am, -0.3 m. High at 9 am, 0.9 m. Low at 3 pm, -0.3 mLow 2 am, -0.3 m1 ftHigh 9 am, 0.9 m3 ftLow 3 pm, -0.3 m1 ftNow3 am9 am3 pm9 pm
  • Low 2 am, -0.3 m1 ft
  • High 9 am, 0.9 m3 ft
  • Low 3 pm, -0.3 m1 ft

Tide is modeled, not measured. Rip current and water quality data are not available for this beach yet.

Beach info

Lifeguards, parking and facilities before you head down.

Facilities

  • Parking8 within 500 m0.3 miNearest 60 m200 ft. Listed as free
  • Food and drink4 within 1 km0.6 miNearest 640 m0.4 mi

Getting there

Nearest bus stop
670 m0.4 miDelaware Avenue & Swift Street
Nearest town
3.2 km2 miSanta Cruz (city)
Nearest airport
23 km14 miWatsonville Municipal Airport (WVI)

Nearby places

  • Cafe IvetaFood and drink
    640 m0.4 mi
  • Venus Spirits Cocktails & KitchenAmerican
    790 m0.5 mi
  • Java Bob's Coffee RoastingCoffee shop
    970 m0.6 mi
  • VerveFood and drink
    980 m0.6 mi

Facilities from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Check posted signs; details change. Data sources

Nearby beaches

Where to stay near the beach

Compare hotels and apartments near Swift Beach.

Partner links

Beachfront rooms go first on warm weekends.

Loads the map from Stay22, our stays partner.

Hotel results come from our stays partner. We may earn a commission when you book, at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the beach score.

The days ahead

Best score each day, with the stretch to aim for.

  • Fri7.7 GreatBest 1 pm to 7 pmWind up to 13 km/h8 mph, rain 0%
  • Sat8.1 GreatBest 10 am to 7 pmWind up to 15 km/h9 mph, rain 0%
  • Sun8.0 GreatBest 1 pm to 2 pmWind up to 12 km/h8 mph, rain 0%
  • Mon8.0 GreatBest 2 pm to 7 pmWind up to 14 km/h9 mph, rain 1%
  • Tue8.1 GreatBest 9 am to 7 pmWind up to 10 km/h6 mph, rain 0%
  • Wed7.4 GreatBest 4 pm to 7 pmWind up to 15 km/h9 mph, rain 1%