Tuesday’s Surf – Surfing anyone?

Tuesday is looking like a surf day.

We are going to have a mix of S-SW swells (180-210) and some increasing WNW windswell. Both the southern hemi swells and the local windswell will be punchy enough that if you only have a spot open to one of the directions there should still be enough energy to catch a few waves on the lower tides.



Average spots will have waves in the waist-chest high range. The better S facing spots, and ok combo breaks, will be around chest-shoulder high on the sets. Standout S-SW facing spots, and the excellent combo spots (mostly through Orange County and San Diego) will have chest-head high sets.

Winds will be decent as well...mostly light and variable through the morning and WNW around 10-12 knots for the afternoon.



I managed to get a session in on Monday (now that some of the holiday weekend chaos subsided)...the local beach break had a lot of chest high sets and even a few dumpy combo peaks rolling through as the tide filled in.

Tuesday is going to be pretty similar...I think that your best bet is going to be at the combo swell beach breaks, particularly spots that can handle a little more tide (it will make your session last a bit longer). If you can I would try and hit it early, right after the tide bottoms out. Points and reefs will be a good backup as well...though they might be a little broken up if they have a little too much WNW exposure. Plan on bringing your wetsuit...the water is still pretty chilly most spots.

Here are the tides...

04:35AM LDT -0.6 L
11:01AM LDT 3.6 H
03:33PM LDT 2.3 L
09:37PM LDT 5.8 H

Surf for Friday – Combo swell fun-time!

Friday will be a surf day.

As it stands I don’t know that I would cancel work or anything...but I would plan on trying to carve out some time to surf tomorrow. Right now Friday looks like it will be playful and fun at the exposed spots. It even has potential to be a good surf day...but we need the swell combo, the winds, and the tides to mix a little better than they have been over the last couple of days.

In the water we have a mix of fading, but still steady, WNW swell (290-300) and some building S-SSW swell (180-200) that will start peaking in the afternoon. The S-SSW’er is actually filling in bit today, even sending in some inconsistent cross up sets to a S facing spot I surfed midmorning. Check it out on the O-Side buoy...



It isn’t a ton of energy right now but it will be coming up as we move into Friday and Saturday.

On Friday the average spots, with exposure both to the S-SSW swell or the WNW swell, will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range. The standout S facing spots and the good combo breaks will be around shoulder-head high with some overhead sets. It will be more consistent on the lower tides...but if you have a good sandbar it should still be manageable on the high tide.

Winds look good for tomorrow...mostly light and variable through the morning with a couple of weak pockets of texture showing at the more exposed beaches. W winds around 10-12 knots move in through the afternoon.

The swell mix is pretty democratic tomorrow...so you should be able to find some sort of surf almost everywhere. I would look for the biggest waves in San Diego, Orange County, and Southern Ventura...LA County will be pretty good too, maybe a touch smaller. Santa Barbara is shadowed from the S swell but there should be enough WNW energy/windswell to get a few sets sneaking into the best spots...though I would stick with the south county breaks if you can...expect SB to be smaller than the other areas.

Hope you guys have a chance to surf a bit tomorrow...here are the tides...

03:47AM LDT -0.7 L
09:55AM LDT 3.6 H
02:59PM LDT 1.6 L
09:06PM LDT 5.8 H

Thursday's Surf - Combo Fun meal with a side of high-tide weaksauce

Thursday will be a surf day...but we will get mowed by another high tide during the morning. The one that hit today practically turned everything into shorebreak during the dawn patrol. Even spots that can usually handle a higher tide. I expect it to do the same again tomorrow.

Swellwise we are going to have a continuing mix of SW swell (200-220) and some WNW energy (285-300).

Most spots will have surf in waist-chest high+ range while the standout spots, mostly in San Diego and a few of the other good combo swell areas, will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range with a few shoulder high+ sets on the lower tides.

Winds look good...mostly light and variable through the morning and then staying on the light side with just a touch of NW flow (around 5-10 knots) for the afternoon.

I think that a midday surf is going to be the best call tomorrow...the tide is going to mush-burger everything out in the morning but shape does improve once it starts to drop. I would probably aim for somewhere in the middle of the tide swing just so you don't get drained out by the negative tide in the afternoon (seriously can we get a break here!). The combo beach breaks will be the best shapewise but the points/reefs should be fun as well.

Here are the tides

01:48AM LST 1.7' Low
07:58AM LST 6.8' High
03:21PM LST -1.2' Low
09:41PM LST 3.9' High

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Bonus Forecast! - Some Long Range Notes

Going a little further out in the forecast I noticed a couple of nice things lining up. First off we are going to see a light-moderate Santa Ana flow for Friday and Saturday...it won't be bad windwise but we can expect some offshore flow for most areas, particularly in the mornings, and warmer air temps once the sun gets up.

We are also going to have a new shot of WNW swell (280-300) that moves in on Saturday, starting to peak in the afternoon and then holding strong in Sunday/Monday before fading. Right now this looks good for some consistent shoulder-head high surf at the winter spots (if the tide cooperates) and some overhead sets at the standouts. Check out the wavewatch.com 7-day forecast model. This is for San Diego so the arrival time is a little behind what Ventura would see.



Here are the winds for Saturday as well



Also to make things even better it looks like Sunday/Monday we are going to get another little shot of S-SSW swell that could help to break up the WNW'er. Man I love combo swells!

Check back I will have more details as we move into the weekend.

Thursday's Surf - Combo swell with a side of tide-burgers for brunch

Thursday is looking pretty surfable...not quite as big as Wednesday but still plenty fun if your spot can pull in the swell mix.

In the water we will have a mix of slowly fading SSW (190-200) and WNW swell (290-300) that is dropping a bit faster. Here is a shot of the swell from Wednesday afternoon...



Wave heights will be in the waist-chest high range for most of the average exposed spots through Ventura, North LA, and the South Bay. (Santa Barbara will be smaller...don't worry you guys will get your chance before too long).

Standout regions like San Diego and Orange County will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range with some shoulder high sets on the better tides.
Winds are looking good as well...look for light to moderate offshore flow through the morning with stronger offshore gusts near passes and canyons. It doesn't look like a pure Santa Ana wind flow but the coastal areas should be nice and clean. Afternoon winds also look pretty darn good...mostly light onshore below 10 knots...so there may be a chance at some surf in the afternoon as well.

About the biggest issue is going to be the 6'+ high tide that crushes surf shape around 10am. (the tidal swing is basically a 7' difference between the high in the morning and the negative low in the afternoon). The peak of the high tide is far enough back midmorning that I think you might be able to sneak in a dawn patrol session before things get too swampy but you will probably want to stick with a spot that can handle a little more water. I think shape will be best at the points and reefs as we start dropping to a lower tide...but there will be enough combo swell still in the water that the combo beach breaks will still be a decent back-up.

Tides for Thursday

03:53AM 1.5' Low
10:01AM 6.4' High (again f-ing brutal)
05:15PM -0.6' Low
11:29PM 3.9' High


Out the Back from a Forecast Perspective (Ok just call it a long-range forecast heads up). There is a large storm forecast to form up in the North Pacific in about 5-days...I don't even really want to talk about it much because I have seen too many of these storms show on the charts but never actually form in real life...but it is worth at least keeping an eye on it. Right now if the wheels stay on the forecast models it could potentially send us a new WNW swell for around the 24-25th. Naturally I will have more updates as we get closer to the storm actually forming.

Friday’s Surf – Morning Fun

Friday is looking like another surf day…particularly through the morning. Don’t plan on another evening glass off though…we will have increasing onshore bump as a new cold front starts to approach from the North.

On Friday we are going to have a mix of SSW swells, WNW swell (280-300), and some local windswell.

Most spots are going to hold in the waist-shoulder high range while the standout spots, which would be the best S facing spots, the top winter spots, and the good combo breaks, will have head high sets…maybe even a plus here and there. Check out the Oceanside Buoy from this evening…combo swell fun!

Winds are forecast to be onshore in the morning, but light…mostly below 5-knots. I am a little fed up with the wind model over the last few days (it has missed both the afternoon glass-offs and has been overcalling the afternoon winds most of the week)…so I am a little suspect on the amount of onshore flow for the AM hours. Likely it will be light/variable and then turn onshore about midmorning. Expect increasing onshore winds through the afternoon.

I think the combo breaks are going to be the best call on Friday. The beach breaks have been pretty fun and if you have a spot that has something to focus the swell, like a good sandbar, it has been pretty ripable even through the edges of the higher tides. I am planning on getting up early, checking to see if the wind really is as light as I think it will be, and then heading down to surf. If you stick with the top breaks I think you can probably skip the morning cam-patrol (but get a good read on the wind before you commit to the drive).

I think that OC and SD will have the biggest, most consistent surf, but look for decent waves through Southern Ventura and the South Bay, with north LA and Northern Ventura as a smaller but still fun choice if you are locked in. Again I don’t think you should drive 2 hours for waves or anything tomorrow (or jump counties unless you are getting totally screwed by the swell shadow)…but it may be worth hunting just a little further than normal if the winds stay down.

Tuesday’s Surf – Playful peaks and a fun swell combo

Tuesday will be another surf day.

We are going to have a mix of S-SSW energy from the southern hemisphere, some tropical S-SW energy from former Hurricane Hernan, and a punchy local W-NW windswell.

Most spots will be in the waist-chest high range...even the windswell spots.

The standout combo breaks and top S facing breaks, mostly in Orange County and North San Diego, will see consistent chest-shoulder high surf with some inconsistent head high sets.

The surf will sort of be like this CDIP model….with a bit more SSW energy from the South Pacific.



Winds and weather look pretty good tomorrow as well…mostly light and variable winds through the morning with a couple of spots with light texture. W winds around 10-12 knots for the afternoon…and possibly lighter winds setting up again late in the evening.

I think that the combo beach breaks will be the most fun on Tuesday…they were pretty playful on Monday off a similar mix of swell…I think it will carry overnight. Points and reefs should continue to be fun as well but maybe a little more sectiony and broken up thanks to the mix of swells.

Random Morning Update: Tuesday Surf Report

SD and OC this morning are looking pretty fun. There are a few playful sets in LA and Ventura as well but it doesn't have quite the amount of size (yet) that is showing down south.

Right now the surf is holding in the waist-shoulder high range at most of those decent combo spots in OC/SD (Newport, Oceanside, Dana/Point Laguna, La Jolla and HB are all good areas) ...and there are a few head high sets that are occasionally slipping through. Winds are mostly light and variable...but are expected to build onshore out of the NW around 10-12 knots this afternoon.

Looks like you could score a few if you get out in the next few hours.