Del Mar Beach with kids today

Del Mar, California

Updated 4:03 AM PDT

79/ 100
Fine with close supervision Water temperature is 76°F — but surf calmness at 3.2 ft is what holds it back.

What decides a families with kids score

Weather & UV · Open-Meteo Water & waves · Open-Meteo Marine Tides · NOAA CO-OPS Air quality · AirNow

Water quality

Every monitored point along this beach currently grades A+.

Graded clean today

  • 15th StreetA+
All 2 monitoring points
Monitoring pointDistanceGrade
San Dieguito River Beach storm drain / pier 1.8 km A+
15th Street 0.3 km A+

Dry-weather bacterial grades from the Heal the Bay Beach Report Card, updated 2026-08-21. Grades reflect the most recent agency sampling and can change after rain.

Before you swim

Surf is running 3.2 ft today, which makes shorebreak and currents stronger than usual.

Swim near a staffed lifeguard tower, and check the National Weather Service surf-zone forecast for the official rip-current outlook — we report conditions, we don't forecast rip currents.

Del Mar Beach is also scored for

About Del Mar Beach

Del Mar Beach sits on the California coast, where the water runs from about 59°F in January to 72°F in August.

The water averages above 70°F in July, August and September — 3 months of the year — peaking around 72°F in August and dropping to about 59°F in January.

Today it is 76°F. That is 4° above the August average of 72°F here.

Tide predictions come from NOAA station La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) about 10.3 km away on the open coast.

Frequently asked questions

Is Del Mar Beach good for families today?

Fine with close supervision — we score it 79 out of 100 today. The limiting factor is surf calmness at 3.2 ft.

What makes a good families with kids day?

We weight surf calmness (35%), water temperature (25%), uv exposure (22%) and combine them into one score. Conditions we cannot read are left out rather than guessed.

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