Shoals Reef, United States

No town nearby. No stay checked for this site yet: Sitka, 19 km away, is the nearest town we list. Nearest airport: SIT (SIT), 17 km.

Watch this spot We email you when Shoals Reef is worth the trip.

About Shoals Reef

Facing, offshore wind, exposure, level and swell range are estimated. Facts: verified, surf details estimated.

The spot faces S (176°), so it takes swell from the S. The wind blows offshore from the N (356°). It is sheltered to the open swell. It suits intermediate surfers and up. It works in 2–9 ft of swell. The sea floor shelves steeply: 10 m deep about 150 m out (1 in 17). On a typical 5 ft, 11 s swell the waves here would break hollow. The sea is about 6°C in February, its coldest month (5/4 or 6/5, hood, boots and gloves), and 14°C in August, its warmest (4/3 wetsuit and boots). For intermediate surfers the best months are usually June, July and August, with about 2 good days in 7; in January, November and December, about 0. From the weather of past years. No town nearby. No stay checked for this site yet: Sitka, 19 km away, is the nearest town we list. Nearest airport: SIT (SIT), 17 km.

Water about 11°C: 4/3 or 5/4, boots and gloves. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Saved: this link opens the same trip

Email it Remind me to book

The link holds the trip itself: nothing about you is kept. Check the forecast again before you book.

Book the trip

Accommodation.
No town nearby
No stay checked for this site yet: Sitka, 19 km away, is the nearest town we list. Nearest airport: SIT (SIT), 17 km.
Hire and lessons.
Surf lessons in Shoals Reef · GetYourGuideAd Board and wetsuit hire in Shoals Reef · GetYourGuideAd

Everything else for the trip

Where it is

Shoals Reef on Google Maps · Directions

Surf spot

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Forecast

The score for intermediates, coloured as on the area pages:GoodFairPoorToo bigToo small

Forecast and score for intermediate surfers at Shoals Reef, each day
Day	Score for intermediates	Swell	Energy	Wind	Temp
Mon 19Oct	42, fair	5 ft6 smushy	145kJ	wind from the south, 1 knot	9°C
Tue 20Oct	0, too big	9 ft9 smushy	1,166kJ	wind from the south-south-east, 26 knots	10°C
Wed 21Oct	0, too big	13 ft9 smushy	2,513kJ	wind from the west-south-west, 7 knots	8°C
Thu 22Oct	0, too big	9 ft8 scrumbling	899kJ	wind from the south, 3 knots	7°C
Fri 23Oct	29, poor	5 ft7 smushy	277kJ	wind from the east-south-east, 4 knots	7°C
Sat 24Oct	29, too small	2 ft7 shollow	49kJ	wind from the north-north-east, 10 knots, offshore	9°C
Sun 25Oct	40, fair	3 ft5 smushy	36kJ	wind from the north-north-west, 6 knots, offshore	9°C
Mon 26Oct	37, fair	3 ft5 smushy	54kJ	wind from the north, 1 knot, offshore	9°C
Tue 27Oct	31, too small	2 ft10 shollow	87kJ	wind from the west-south-west, 3 knots	9°C

Day scores here are the conditions out of 80; a trip's score on the results is the same conditions out of 100. The journey never scores. The forecast reaches about 10 days. Energy is the swell's power in kJ per metre of wave, from its height and interval: it grows with the square of each, so a long-period swell hits far harder than a short one the same size. The word under the swell is the wave's shape, our estimate from the sea floor. Wind is in knots: 10 kn is about 19 km/h. The arrow points where the wind blows to; offshore wind, blowing from the land out to sea, is green and says so.

Your trip, day by day

6 nights from today, leaving from Chicago, for intermediate surfers. Change dates

Mon 19 Oct
Travel out
No way there we can work out.
Tue 20 Oct
Rest day
Nothing worth paddling out for: the best window scores 0 of 80.
Wed 21 Oct
Rest day
Nothing worth paddling out for: the best window scores 0 of 80.
Thu 22 Oct
Rest day
Nothing worth paddling out for: the best window scores 0 of 80.
Fri 23 Oct
Surf Shoals Reef
Best 14:00 to 17:00 local time: 5 ft at 7 s, wind 4 kn (8 km/h).
Sat 24 Oct
Rest day
Too small: 2 ft at best.
Sun 25 Oct
Travel home
No way there we can work out.

Book the trip

In the waterAd

Surf lessons · GetYourGuide Board and wetsuit hire · GetYourGuide

Links marked Ad may pay us a small commission if you book. You pay the same price, and it never changes a score.