Surf for Friday – Combo swell and offshore winds

Friday will be a surf day…water quality still won’t be great…but with a still playful swell combo, warming beach temps, and light offshore winds…I don’t think many of us will stay out of the water.

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of fading W-WNW swell (275-300 but again with most of the energy around the 285-300 degree range, which means that the larger surf will be at the better NW facing breaks…not the purely W facing ones) and some peaking S swell (180-200). The bigger sets from the W-WNW will be dropping out fast but there will be enough energy to keep us surfing…and plenty of juice to cross up the S swell sets at the combo breaks.



Look for the average exposed spots to see surf in the chest-shoulder high range…a little inconsistent on the sets and getting more tide sensitive…but still plenty fun. The top NW facing spots, mostly through San Diego and Ventura, will be in the chest-head high range with still a few bigger waves mixing in through the lower tides. The best combo spots, pulling in the S swell and the WNW energy…mostly in Orange County and Northern San Diego…will be more consistently in the chest-head high range again with some bigger waves on the best sets.

Winds look good…forecasts are calling for a light Santa Ana (Santana to some of you) to form tonight and hold into tomorrow morning. Look for light-offshore winds out of the N-NE for most areas…and some stronger offshore flow near passes and canyons that funnel down to the beach. Light and variable winds are expected for the afternoon…but look out for some onshore bump forming through the mid-afternoon.



There is one downer tomorrow, which is the morning tide swing…we have a big fat 6-foot high that hits right around 8:15am. That tide isn’t going to do us any favors…but fortunately we have enough swell still coming through that we should be able to find waves…and to top it off the winds look good enough to keep it clean as the tide drops. Personally I am going to slow my morning roll and try to paddle out midmorning and see if I can take advantage of the light winds and dropping tide…hopefully to find some local combo swell goodness.

Here are the tides…hope you get a few fun ones tomorrow too!

02:08AM LDT 0.4 L
08:17AM LDT 5.9 H (dirty swampthing!)
02:49PM LDT 0.0 L
08:45PM LDT 5.0 H

Waves on Monday – Get it while you can

We will still have plenty of surf on Monday and it should be fun (and less crowded) for the dawn patrol.

Our WNW swell (285-300) from the weekend will be losing some steam but we will see some good-sized surf at the standout winter breaks. Most spots will hold around waist-shoulder high range. Standout WNW facing spots, mostly in San Diego, will have some head high sets.

Conditions look good as well. Mostly light/variable winds in the morning. Expect NW winds around 10 knots to build in through the afternoon.

Finding good surf will be very similar to the weekend. Biggest waves show in San Diego and some parts of Ventura but you should be able to find rideable size at pretty much any W facing break. Points/Reefs are going to be the best call on getting decent shape…beach breaks will still be walled up but since the size is dropping there may be a few more corners on the better sandbars.

I would try and get some surf on Monday…it looks like slightly stormy/eddy conditions start to develop on Tuesday and hold through much of the week. Looks like SW winds and some drizzle will work to hamper shape for most of the week.

Surfing on Tuesday – Fading WNW swell

Tuesday will be smaller than Monday. The mix of WNW swell will be fading and the small SW background swell will continue to be…uh…small and in the background. In general most winter spots will see knee-waist high waves. Standouts, mostly through San Diego will have some chest high sets.

Tides will continue to be an issue but the dawn-patrol window is opening a little as the peak of the high tide moves further toward mid-morning.

Conditions look good for all areas…winds are expected to be light offshore through most of the morning…and then turn onshore, but stay light, through the afternoon.

If you live outside of SD I think you will need to take your small wave gear to the beach. The combo of higher tide and limited exposure to the swell mix means a lot more longboarding. San Diego spots, and a few Ventura and South Bay breaks, will have some playful sizes but personally I don’t think it will be good enough to drive very far.

There is a lot of storm activity moving around in the North Pacific…so even though there is nothing powerful in the forecast…things are looking a bit more fun and playful for the second half of the week and into this upcoming weekend.