Monday’s Surf – Smaller and with more eddy

Monday will be surfable but not what I would call a surf day. Our swell will be fading, looks like there will be some eddy winds in the morning and to top it off the tides sort of honk us up a bit as well.

The small pulse of SSW swell that came in over the weekend and tried to help prop up wave heights will be on its way out…leaving us with mostly leftover SSW energy and small WNW windswell. Here is a shot of the CDIP model…not very exciting.



On average most breaks will hold around knee to waist high…and will stay soft on the higher tides.

The standout combo breaks, mostly the beach breaks with a really good sandbar and some exposure to the mix of swells, will be in the waist-chest high range on the better sets…but mostly they will hang in the same sort of knee-waist high range.

Winds also look a little funky…forecasts are showing the eddy spin up tomorrow, which will be better for water temps but not for super clean morning conditions for some areas. This is a shot from the NRL COAMPS model…check out the swirly winds…that is the eddy forecasted to center around Catalina Island.




Right now the South Bay, N. LA, and Southern Ventura look like conditions will be ok…a touch warbly but cleaner than other areas. OC and SD will have the light onshore S-SW winds. W winds around 10-12 knots build in for all areas in the afternoon.

I don’t think there is really going to be a best bet tomorrow…if you find waves close to home get on them…they probably won’t last long as the tides swing and the winds increase. Personally I am going to take the morning on the slow side…maybe check the cameras and see if I can find something that makes me want to drive down and look at it in person…I am not holding my breath though.

Tides on Monday

06:11AM 3.4' High
09:01AM 3.3' Low
03:32PM 5.2' High
11:45PM 0.1' Low

Monday’s Surf – Case of the Monday’s

Monday will actually be marginally surfable…in fact there will be a touch more swell than we saw over the weekend.

Now before you get all excited…it isn’t going to be a good surf day…in fact it will probably be on the lame side unless you really like the little waves…but like I said it will be better than the weekend with just a little more push as an inconsistent, and small, SW swell arrives and starts to overlap our leftovers.

Most spots will continue to see surf in the knee high range while the standout SW facing surf spots in South Orange County and North San Diego see some bigger waist and even rare chest high sets.

Conditions will be ok…there may be a touch of fugliness to the surf in the morning but overall winds will be light. Expect mostly variable onshore directions early then building W winds around 10+ knots developing through the afternoon.

There really isn’t enough swell to warrant a “best bet”…but I think the beach breaks, with exposure to the swell mix and some really shallow sandbars…will probably be the most fun.

Monday’s Surf – Sleep in…

Monday is not looking like much of a surf day.

Our swell mix of S-SW swell and WNW energy will be backing off…and the NW windswell is slipping past us due to its steep swell angle.

Wave heights on average will be around knee-waist high for most spots with exposure to at least one of the swells. Standout combo breaks, mostly through San Diego, will have a few chest high sets on the lower tides.

The wind is what is really going to put the nail in the coffin so to speak…the outer water NW winds are expected to stay strong overnight and continue to spin up the SoCal eddy as we head into Monday (in fact the eddy is forecast to stick around most of the week, which pretty much blows…uh so to speak). So for Monday morning we can expect S-SW winds for most of Orange County and San Diego and NW-WNW winds for most of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Northern LA.

If you have to surf on Monday…make sure to bring your small wave gear and try and stick to spots that are protected from whatever winds that your region will have. I think the best surf will be in spots like the northern South Bay, around central Orange County, and down at select spots in La Jolla in San Diego. Those areas will be cleaner, than most but will still have the potential to pick up at least a few waves from the swell mix.

Monday’s Surf – Still a bit funky…but cleaner than the weekend

Man this weekend was pretty much a bust…at least for my local spots. The wind came on a bit stronger than the forecasts were anticipating and the eddy that could have held off the worst of the bump never really developed. So instead of slightly bumpy conditions it was really bumpy and nasty most of the time. There were a few surfable spots out there but not as many as there could have been.

Anyway enough of my bitching...on to Monday.

Monday should have cleaner conditions, lighter winds, and smaller swell.

It still won’t be super glassy but the onshore wind is supposed to slow down tomorrow morning and come in below 10-knots…maybe even lighter. It should be rideable for most spots but expect some crumble/bump to continue.

Swellwise we are going to have a mix of SW swells (one fading and another arriving) and some WNW windswell (big surprise there). Most spots will hold in the waist-chest high range while the standout combo breaks see some shoulder high sets. It will be a little inconsistent on the bigger sets but they will be lurking out there.

Your best bet for waves will be to check the more protected breaks. I think that a lot of spots will still look a bit funky as we see the last of the weekend lump try to siphon off. San Diego and OC will be the biggest but you may find more protected and cleaner spots in other regions…OC and SD are pretty open to the wind and that may keep the shape a bit on the sloppy side. I think I am going to shine it tomorrow…until at least midmorning. If the wind lays down enough it may be worth catching a few, but hey surfing anything is usually better than work.

Monday’s Surf: Starting the week off right!

Monday is looking like a surf day…maybe even a good surf day at the combo spots.

In the water we will have a mix of WNW and SW swell that started to hit on Sunday. This will hold through the day on Monday before starting to trail off.

Surfwise we can expect waves in the waist-shoulder high range at most exposed breaks, Santa Barbara spots will be a little smaller because of shadowing but they should still have a few fun waves. Standout areas like San Diego, parts of Southern Ventura, the South Bay, and areas in OC, will have shoulder-head high sets…maybe even a few overhead waves on the better tides.

Weather looks nice as well. Looks like offshore winds will develop tonight…and may even get a little gusty near passes and canyons. Most areas should have offshore shape through the dawn patrol. Those winds lighten up and stay light most of the afternoon…so there may be hope for an after work/school surf.

Your best bet is to take a quick look at the cams in the morning. Weather has been a little unstable and those winds may come in a touch northerly in the morning (which is a little junky for some spots). If it looks clean or offshore then get down to a good combo break…best shape will be at those spots that can pull in the mix of swells. I think beach breaks will be plenty fun thanks to the combo, the nice morning winds, and not having too-much swell in the water.

Monday’s Surf

I was a little disappointed with the quality of surf over the holiday weekend…There were some fun periods but, at least in the North OC area, the combo of waves and weather never really jelled all that well. Either the swell was too small, or the tide to high, or the winds picked up just a tad to much. Oh well I hope all of you had better luck in your areas.

Monday looks pretty similar to what we had over the weekend. We will have a slowly fading NW swell and some local windswell showing through the day. Wave heights in most exposed areas will be around knee-waist high+…while standout areas see some chest high+ sets. We have another surf-swallowing high tide in the morning which is a bummer…so if you have to surf the dawn patrol it would be best to check breaks that can handle the high tide.

Conditions will be a little off…winds are expected to be light but with a slight southerly texture to it. Look for W winds around 10-15 knots to build in through the afternoon.

Personally I will probably shine surfing tomorrow morning unless winds are completely calm when I check the dawn patrol…I have a whole list of excuses: the tide will be too high, there really won’t be enough swell making it into most of HB, and ect…but really it just boils down to the conditions not really motivating me much.