Fathom Surf

Surf maps from the seafloor up

Every wave starts on the seafloor.

Fathom maps the sandbars, reefs and bluffs under your break in 3D, down to the metre, so you can see why it works on one swell and closes out on the next.

Explore San Diego See what's next

Mapped now

Two coasts, break by break.

San Diego from the tip of Point Loma to the Carlsbad–Oceanside line, and Santa Cruz from Natural Bridges to New Brighton. Pick a stretch and drop straight in.

Live

San Diego

Point Loma to Carlsbad

Coastline
35miles
Finest detail
1metre
Zones
6stretches
Views
3D+ swell

Beach, bluff and seafloor elevation from public lidar and sonar surveys, with roads and paths on top. Spin it in 3D terrain, lay the satellite photo over it, and turn on swell arrows to see how a direction wraps into each break.

Open the San Diego map
Live

Santa Cruz

Natural Bridges to New Brighton

Coastline
9miles
Finest detail
1metre
Canyon floor
5,490ft deep
Views
3D+ swell

The Westside reefs, Steamer Lane and Cowell's, the harbour and the Eastside points round Pleasure Point to Capitola, on Monterey Bay's south-facing shore. Lidar on land and NOAA's seafloor model under the water, out over the shelf and down into Soquel and Monterey canyons.

Open the Santa Cruz map

Coming soon

Where should we map next?

Tap a break to vote for it. We map the places surfers ask for most, so every tap counts.

Don't see your break? Search for it and request it →

Why the seafloor

Read the bottom, read the wave.

  1. The bottom shapes the break

    A wave peaks where the seafloor rises under it. Sandbars, reefs and canyons decide where it stands up, how fast it peels and where it shuts down.

  2. Survey data, stitched

    We merge beach lidar and nearshore sonar into one continuous surface, from the bluff top out to deep water, at up to one-metre detail.

  3. Swell meets terrain

    Set a swell direction and watch it meet the contours. See which breaks it lights up and which it misses, before you paddle out.