Thursday’s Surf – Wave Heights are winding down

Thursday will be a surf day but expect wave heights to be smaller than the last couple of days.

The SW swell that has been peaking over the last couple of days will begin to wind down even faster on Thursday. There will still be plenty of surfable energy and some local WNW windswell to help cross up the combo spots but in general expect the surf to be smaller and more on the playful side.

Average SW facing spots will have surf in the waist-chest high+ range with some shoulder high sets on the tide push. Standout SW facing spots in Orange County and San Diego will still have some chest-shoulder high surf with some head high sets mixing in at times.

Conditions look decent for the morning with mostly light and variable to light southerly winds. W winds come onshore around the usual 10-14 knots through the afternoon.

Looks like we will have a few more surf options on Thursday…the points and reefs will continue to have the best shape but with the smaller wave heights it looks like the beach breaks will start to be a bit more crossed-up and workable, particularly if they are spots that have some exposure to the WNW windswell. I would still expect some decent crowds at the top spots but hopefully we will get a chance to spread out a little more.

It looks cleanest in the morning but there will also be a bit of a high tide that we have to push through. We are sort of back in pattern of waiting for the tide to drop and hoping that the winds don’t get too strong before it gets low enough to help out the shape. If you are surfing early try and aim for spots that can handle a little more water…if you can wait try and paddle out sometime midmorning.