Surf for Friday – peaking SW swell

Friday will be a surf day…but you are going to want to stick with spots that can break up the SW swell…the beach breaks have been a bit walled and sectiony on the first part of the swell.

We are going to see the mix of SW swells (190-220) and some building but still minimal local NW windswell. Check out the CDIP from this afternoon…I am expecting it to be similar…but with a little more westerly angle to the Southern Hemi swell.



Surf will continue to run in the chest-shoulder high range at the average spots. The standout breaks, mostly through Northern San Diego and Southern Orange County (but sneaking into a few other areas as well), will have sets in the shoulder-head high range. Expect some longer waits between the sets…and slower shape on the higher tides.

Winds look ok tomorrow…the weather is still going to be a little unstable thanks to that upper level low pressure (there is a chance for more thunderstorms) so we might get some fluky winds. If it is clean when you look at it I would get out there because it may switch around pretty fast. Current forecasts are calling for light and variable winds through the morning and then NW winds around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.

We have waves, which is good, but I don’t think this is great swell overall. It will be inconsistent and walled up on the sets for most areas and the few breaks that can handle the longer SW lines will probably be on the crowded side. Points and reefs will be the best call…and then beach breaks with piers or jetties or giant rocks will be a semi-decent fallback spot. Keep in mind that we are probably going to end up sacrificing shape for less people in the water.

Here are the tides…

03:05AM LDT -0.6 L
09:23AM LDT 3.4 H
01:57PM LDT 2.1 L
08:11PM LDT 5.8 H

Friday’s Surf – The peak of the new SW’er

Friday will be a fun surf day…particularly at points/reefs exposed to the SW swell and are a little protected from local winds.

Our SW’er (185-210) will be peaking through the day. Most spots will see a mix of the SW swell and some still solid WNW windswell. Average breaks will be in the waist-head high range while the standout SW facing spots and great combo breaks see some overhead+ sets…a few of the better OC and SD surf breaks will have sets going a couple of feet overhead at times.

Here is the current CDIP modeling...(you may want to go where the colors get closer to yellow...I mean really it is just a theory I have)



Winds will be a little funky…sort of similar to Thursday. Santa Barbara and Ventura will have mostly NW winds…while LA, OC, and SD will have a mix of W-SW flow. It should be light in the morning, staying below 10 knots but it will build onshore through the afternoon to about 10-15 knots.

Your best bet for big waves will definitely be the more exposed San Diego and Orange County surf spots. The other regions will have exposed areas but they will still be a bit more shadowed and blocked off (from one swell direction or the other) so they will be smaller and less consistent.
I think that points and reefs will have the best shape and will be able to give you the most bang for your buck when it comes to the S-SW swell in particular. Beach breaks will be ok but may get more walled up as the wave heights get bigger.

One last thing…here is a shot I took at the wedge this evening. It wasn’t super huge yet but it was starting to throw some meaty ones. Here is a sponger about to get put into traction.