When and where to paddle out over the next couple of days — clean, offshore windows matched to each Tofino break and your level.
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When and where to paddle out over the next couple of days. We cross the swell and wind forecast with what each break likes and your level, and mark the clean, offshore windows. For the hour-by-hour read, see Surf & Sea Conditions.
Best bet
Tofino's outer beaches face the open Pacific and pick up swell year-round — winter is the most consistent and the biggest. Mornings are often the cleanest, before the afternoon onshore westerly comes up; that's when most people surf.
Town-adjacent and the mellowest of the main beaches — peeling waves, best on a higher tide. The left end gets steeper and suits stronger surfers. Frank Island at its south end is only reachable around low tide — mind the return.
Catches the most swell of the town beaches — best mid-to-high tide with an offshore easterly. Gentler at the Maltby (south) end on a small day; 'the corner' at the north end is for confident surfers when it's big.
A more powerful wave with strong currents that needs some size to work — ideally chest-high and up. For intermediates and stronger, and the less-crowded of the two Chesterman ends.
Long, sandy and exposed, inside Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (a park pass is needed to stop). It can look gentle, but the local surf shops warn beginners off — strong currents run here, especially near Lovekin Rock. Take a lesson before paddling out.
See the hour-by-hour conditions
A window is not a green light
Forecast: Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com), CC BY 4.0.