March 17, 2026 / Grade: B-
Visibility is currently around 10–20 ft, based on the latest Scripps Pier camera image.
Conditions are actually pretty decent today. Small, long-period south swell, so the water’s not getting too stirred up, and winds are light out of the WSW keeping the surface clean. Water’s around 63 and it feels nice out.
Tide’s on the higher side and dropping, with low this afternoon, so you’ll get a bit of a slack window early afternoon which should help things settle.
Viz is probably 10 to 20 feet right now. If it stays calm, you might see a little improvement, but there’s still some stuff in the water so don’t expect it to fully clean up.
Overall, it’s a B- day — not epic, but definitely worth getting in. I’d go sooner rather than later before any wind picks up.
Current Conditions
• Wind: 3.3 mph
• Cloud Cover: 0%
• Water Temp: 63.5°F
• Chlorophyll: None mg/m³ (ERROR)
• Swell: 1.6 ft @ 15.0 sec from NW (288°) — favorable
• Tide: Rising → next H at 21:27 (4.623 ft)
• Community Report: No report
Dive Grade: B-
🎥 Live Camera: https://coollab.ucsd.edu/pierviz/
3:00 PM Update — Grade C+
Visibility: 10–13 ft
The 4 ft pilings on the right side of the frame are visible but show reduced surface detail, with soft edges and a greenish haze obscuring fine texture — they are present but not sharp as would be expected at this close range. The 11 ft pilings are discernible as structural forms but carry significant haze, with limited surface detail and indistinct edges indicating moderate turbidity at mid-range. The 14 ft pilings are not clearly visible with distinguishable structure; at best, the darker vertical forms blending into the background may suggest their presence, but no confident structural detail can be resolved, placing this firmly in Grade C territory. The water is a characteristic murky teal-green color with elevated particulate scatter, and light from the surface diffuses broadly rather than penetrating cleanly. Overall clarity is consistent with moderate-to-poor conditions typical of biological turbidity or sediment suspension.
The greenish, hazy water color strongly suggests elevated phytoplankton or biological particulate content, which scatters light and limits horizontal visibility. The broad, diffuse surface light glow and lack of defined light rays indicate significant particulate load throughout the water column rather than clean, blue oceanic water. Surge from long-period groundswell may be disturbing bottom sediment around the pilings, contributing additional turbidity near the seafloor.
Current conditions are marginal for diving, with visibility around 10–13 ft — adequate for experienced divers but disappointing for visibility-dependent activities. Conditions may improve slightly around the incoming tide shift if biological turbidity is the primary factor, but significant improvement is unlikely today without a major water mass change.
• Wind: 8.4 mph
• Cloud Cover: 68%
• Water Temp: 66.6°F
• Chlorophyll: None mg/m³ (ERROR)
• Swell: 1.3 ft @ 15.0 sec from NW (285°) — favorable
• Tide: Unknown → next L at 02:38 (0.864 ft)
• Community Report: No report
