How can you read whether a beach will handle the swell?

To judge whether a beach will handle the swell, look at height, period, direction, tide, wind, and the kind of coastline or bank the spot has. A beach handles swell well when the incoming energy matches its exposure and bottom shape rather than overwhelming them. A matching longer-period swell on the right tide can stand up on a sandbank. Short wind-driven chop on a too-high tide often dumps as whitewater. Wind on the face can ruin an otherwise matching swell in an hour.