Santa Cruz live webcam – Buoy 46042: Monterey - 27nm Wnw Of Monterey, CA
Working Still image · every hour Open ocean · Official source · What camera types mean
What you are looking at
Buoy 46042 floats 27 nautical miles west-northwest of Monterey, California, over deep water about 1,710 meters (roughly 5,600 feet) down, at the outer edge of Monterey Bay. The camera's strip of photos, generally taken hourly in daylight, mostly shows open Pacific and sky; the Santa Cruz Mountains and Big Sur coast are distant and may or may not appear.
The bay and the waters around this buoy lie within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, popular with whale-watching tours, fishing boats and sailors. Surfers from Santa Cruz to Big Sur also use the buoy to read incoming swell. The National Data Buoy Center's 3-meter foam buoy reports wind and gusts, air pressure, air and water temperature, and wave height and period, all used in National Weather Service marine forecasts.
Spring often brings stiff northwest winds and cold, upwelled water rich with sea life. Summer fog regularly blankets the bay. Fall is typically the calmest and clearest season, while winter storms deliver rain and the long-period swells that light up the region's surf breaks.
Camera details
- Operator
- NOAA National Data Buoy Center
- Station ID
- 46042
- Station
- MONTEREY - 27NM WNW of Monterey, CA
- Image size
- 2880 × 300 px (6 frames around the buoy)
- Daylight pictures only
- Yes
- Image updates
- Every hour
- Video format
- Still image (JPEG)
- Position
- Exact (from the provider)
- Licence
- U.S. public domain
- Data source
- NOAA NDBC BuoyCAMs
- Working, last 7 days
- 100 % of checks
From the provider's own camera list and our automatic checks. Readings and details can change without notice.
About Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz is a town in United States with about 64,000 people. The camera is about 25 mi from the center. The nearest bigger place is San Jose, 26 mi away. Santa Cruz keeps America/Los Angeles time (UTC−7 at the moment); the panel above shows the local time live.
Santa Cruz wraps around the northern edge of Monterey Bay, where the Santa Cruz Mountains drop down to beaches, cliffs and a long wooden wharf. It is the seat of Santa Cruz County and had about 63,000 residents in the 2020 census. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California's oldest amusement park, still runs its historic rides by the sand, and the University of California, Santa Cruz, founded in 1965, gives…
On the map
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Questions about Buoy 46042: Monterey - 27nm Wnw Of Monterey, CA
Can I watch Buoy 46042: Monterey - 27nm Wnw Of Monterey, CA live right now?
Yes, it is working: at our last automatic check it was sending new pictures. It is a still image, not video: a new photo arrives about every 1 hour straight from NOAA National Data Buoy Center.
Who operates the Buoy 46042: Monterey - 27nm Wnw Of Monterey, CA camera?
NOAA National Data Buoy Center runs this camera. It is an official source. Its images are in the U.S. public domain. LiveLocation shows them straight from the source with credit. About NOAA BuoyCAMs Watch at the source
Where is the Buoy 46042: Monterey - 27nm Wnw Of Monterey, CA camera?
It is about 25 mi from the center of Santa Cruz, United States. Coordinates: 36.787, -122.408. All cameras in Santa Cruz
Is it day or night there now?
Santa Cruz is in the America/Los Angeles time zone. The "Right now" panel above shows the local time live. On October 7 the sun rises at 7:10 AM and sets at 6:44 PM there.
Can I see other cameras nearby?
No other camera is within 25 miles yet. The live camera radar can search up to 250 miles around this spot. Open the radar here
Does this buoy camera work at night?
No: NOAA BuoyCAMs take pictures only in daylight, so at night the last daytime image stays up. This is NOAA station 46042; its page also has the latest wind, wave and temperature readings. Station 46042 at NOAA
What do the sensors at Buoy 46042: Monterey - 27nm Wnw Of Monterey, CA show?
The latest readings from the provider: Waves: 2.0 m / 6.6 ft, every 5 s from the NW; Water: 17.7 °C / 63.9 °F; Air: 15.2 °C / 59.4 °F; Wind: 40 km/h / 25 mph from the NW, gusts 47 km/h / 29 mph; Air pressure: 1,010.8 hPa / 29.85 inHg. They update with the provider's data, so they can be a few minutes old.