Thursday’s Surf – Starting to get a bit funky

I hope you have been surfing the last couple of days because it looks like the wheels are going to start to come off the nice conditions that we have been having.

That being said Thursday morning looks pretty surfable for most areas but it could be a bit bumpy-funky in a few spots.

The WNW/SW swell mix continues on Thursday…with very similar wave heights to what we have been seeing. Lots of spots in the waist-shoulder high+ range while the standout breaks, mostly the combo spots in San Diego and Orange County, will have head high and overhead sets.

The weather is what is going to be an issue. Winds in the outer waters are starting to crank up and it looks like we will see a fairly strong SoCal Eddy form tomorrow morning. Winds are expected to be out of the S-SE in the morning for San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. Santa Barbara to about Northern Ventura will have NW winds around 10+ knots in the morning. The afternoon looks pretty breezy W-SW winds around 10-15+ knots.

Here is a shot of the wind forecast for tomorrow…note the big blob of yellow/green next to Orange County…(that is not making me feel all fired up to check the surf in the morning).



Your best bet for waves is to head to spots where those winds are going to be offshore. Looks like some of Santa Barbara will be ok, particularly if the winds have more of a northerly bent to them. The best areas will be San Diego spots like La Jolla and the South Bay in LA…they should be the cleanest.

I am probably going to get up and check the cams early…if the wind isn’t showing on the web then you might be able to pick off a few before it gets going to bad.

Tuesday’s Waves – Textured but Fun

Tuesday is looking like another fun surf day but there may be a little texture from the wind in the morning (and more in the afternoon).

We will have more of the WNW/SW combo swell. Wave heights will be around waist-chest high+ at the average spots while the standout combo spots see some shoulder high+ sets. There will be a high tide around mid-day but it isn’t as bad as it has been…so if you have a spot that can work with the higher tide it should stay surfable most of the day.

Conditions are where it gets a little shaky. NW winds are supposed to be picking up right at dawn…personally after looking a few of the charts I think they will be pretty light, maybe even variable for the first hour or two of daylight. By midmorning look for building NW texture and then by the afternoon winds should be up to 10-15 knots.

Your best bet for surf will still be those good combo spots in San Diego and OC…but there will be plenty of smaller waves in the other areas as well. Beach breaks and some of the point breaks have been pretty fun on the lower tides so those may by worth a check.

Monday’s Surf – More of the same…

Well the swell over the weekend wasn’t really that much to get excited about…the energy was definitely in the water but the tide, (and the consistent onshore winds that blew all afternoon once the tide finally dropped), continued to hamper shape and conditions.

Monday will be pretty similar to what we saw over the weekend. It will be surfable, particularly through the dawn patrol, but the building tide and increasing onshore winds will screw it up from mid-morning through sundown.

In the water we will have a mix of WNW and S-SW energy…some of which will be leftovers from the weekend and some new energy moving from both the NPAC and the SPAC. Wave heights will hold in the waist-chest high range for most spots while the standout combo breaks, mostly in San Diego and parts of OC, will have some chest-shoulder high sets…with a couple of bigger waves showing on the lower tides.

Winds will be light/variable in the morning but expect building onshore N-NW winds 10-15 knots through the afternoon.

I think the dawn patrol will be your best bet for finding surf on Monday. The tide will be low enough right as the sun comes up and the winds should be light as well. I would expect a bunch of soft crossed-up peaks with softer shoulders. Look for the best surf at the standout combo beach breaks that have enough sand that they are working on the higher tides.

Friday’s Surf – The combo swell gets more combo

Friday will be another good surf day.

We will have a mix of S-SW swell and new WNW energy. On Thursday the S swell was a bit more dominant and I saw a lot of left-handers pushing through at the local beach breaks. This should shift back to a more even WNW/SW mix on Friday…so we should have a few more rights sneaking through, and a touch more consistency to the surf as well.

Wave heights will be in the waist-shoulder high range for most of SoCal. Standout areas in San Diego, Ventura, the South Bay, and Orange County, will have surf in the shoulder-head high+ range on the lower tides. Expect surf in the Santa Barbara area to be smaller…more in the waist-chest high range for most spots (even smaller the further north you get).

Shape will still be a bit soft in the morning…we still have to try and muscle past a 5.4’ high tide that peaks at 8:30 or so. The tide will bog out a lot of breaks at first but we will see much better shape around lunch as it drops off. (I am soooo sick of these morning tides…seriously I hate you high tide!)

We can expect decent conditions on Friday. Look for light and variable to light offshore winds in the morning along with patchy fog and overcast skies. Expect clearing skies and light N-NW winds around 10-12 knot by the afternoon.

Finding the best surf won’t be that hard…any decent combo break should be fun. Look for the biggest waves through Orange County and San Diego. Other areas will be a little smaller and a little less consistent but should still see plenty of workable waves. Unfortunately Mr. High-Tide has to go around being a jerk all morning…lots of spots will start off swamped out…and those that aren’t will be pretty soft. Personally I am going to shine the morning surf…wait for the tide to drop…and try to paddle out around lunchtime. (and keep my fingers crossed that the winds will stay light)

Here is a great picture of why you won’t find big waves in Santa Barbara tomorrow…please note my very scientific equation that explains the situation.

Thursday’s Surf – Waves with a touch of the Swamp Thing

Thursday will be another surf day…and other day that starts off by getting buried by the morning high tide.

Swellwise we will have the seemingly endless combo swell mix of both WNW and SW energy. Unfortunately these swells will have to try and push surf through a 5.6’ high tide that peaks around 7:30-8am.

Since the tide peak is a little later in the morning than the last couple of days there may be a small surf window right as the sun comes up…literally…and if you want to try and get a few waves before the shape totally bogs out you are going to want to be changing into your suit in the dark and paddling out before you can really see anything.

Once the tide peaks expect surf in the waist-chest high+ range for most spots…but expect a lot of that size to be shorebreak. Standout high-tide combo spots will be bigger…closer to shoulder high+ but shape will be slow at those breaks as well.

As the tide drops through mid-morning expect a lot of improvement. The average exposed breaks will get more consistently into the waist-shoulder high range and the standouts will see head high sets. Expect the biggest and most consistent surf through the best combo spots in San Diego and Orange County.

Winds look better for Thursday…expect light NE winds around 5-8 knots through the morning with some onshore NW texture below 10 knots developing through the afternoon.

Your best bet for surf on Thursday…if you just can’t motivate yourself to become a Dawn Patrol Warrior…is to wait for the tide to drop. I think the winds will hold off a bit longer than they have compared to the last couple of days so we may have less bump on the water as the tide becomes less of an issue. I think beach breaks and the reefs will have the most fun shape but the points will have workable waves (on the lower tide) as well.

Here is a random beach picture from the other night…the surf isn’t great but it was a nice shot…makes me want to have a mai-tai…

Surf For Tuesday: Another day of fun waves

Notes on Monday: I just got out of the water at HB State Beach and man it was good. Lots of crossed up a-frames with hollow corners…most of which were in the easy shoulder-head high range and few sets that were overhead. Of course the wind switched about 30 minutes after we paddled out (so about 12:30pm) and started going onshore…but even with the bump it was still pretty fun. I would keep an eye on it this afternoon…if the winds lighten up, or go offshore again it is worth trying to grab a few. Anyway…on to Tuesday…

Tuesday will be another good surf day.

It won’t be as offshore as Monday but winds are expected to be light in the morning and we will still have plenty of swell in the water.

We will have a mix of steady S-SW swell and a smaller WNW swell. Most breaks will continue to see waist-shoulder high surf while the standouts, Mostly OC and San Diego, see head high sets.

Winds will be light and variable in the morning before coming onshore around 10-15 knots out of the NW by the afternoon. One thing you may want to watch. Winds are supposed to be fairly north in the morning for Santa Barbara, Ventura, and LA. This probably won’t affect North LA of SB that much but there could be some side-shore texture in Ventura and the South bay.


The tide will be an issue in the morning…there is a 5’+ high tide that rolls in about an hour or so after sunrise. This will keep things pretty slow through the dawn patrol. So if you have to surf in the morning head to a break that can handle the high tide.

Your best bet for surf will be to wait out the morning tide…the tide is just so swampy that it is going to really tweak most breaks in the morning. Once the tide drops you are going to see the best surf at the combo breaks. San Diego and OC will be the biggest, and probably the cleanest, surf…while the other regions will be a little smaller and less consistent.

So to sum up:

1. wait for the tide to drop
2. biggest surf at the combo spots in SD and OC
3. Winds will be light but increasing in the afternoon