Waves for Wednesday – A little smaller and a little cleaner

Wednesday will be a marginal surf day...

When I say marginal...I mean that the winds will be better than the last couple of days but the swell will still be a bit finicky, shadowed, and inconsistent.

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of slowly fading SW swell (200-220) and steady NW windswell.



The average spots will be in the ankle-waist high range. The standout SW facing spots, again in the South OC, North SD, North LA, will be doing a bit better with waist-chest high surf and a few inconsistent chest high+ sets. Look for the best shape at the points/reefs that can handle the funky morning tide swing.

Winds look more variable through the morning on Wednesday as well. Look for variable onshore flow through the Northern Counties (Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles)...and then more light and variable conditions as you move down into OC and San Diego. It won’t be super clean but less bump than the last couple of mornings. Look for the cleanest conditions in areas with some protection from the wind. By the afternoon expect more WNW flow 10-15 knots to return.



Overall not a super exciting day tomorrow, particularly in my neck of the woods (North OC) thanks to shadowing from San Clemente Island and Catalina, but there will be some rideable and almost playful sized waves at the well exposed spots. Your best bet is going to be shooting for that short window of building tide in the early morning...winds will be lighter and we won’t be completely swamped out. Plan on sticking to the smaller wave gear just so you can still have some fun with the smaller sets.

Here are the tides...

04:06AM LDT -0.4 L
10:20AM LDT 4.0 H
03:25PM LDT 2.0 L
09:23PM LDT 5.8 H

Surf for Monday – Some cleaner combo swell

Monday looks like a surf day.

We will have a mix of new S swell (170-180), some SW energy (190-215), and some background NW windswell.



Waves will be in the waist-chest high range at most of the exposed spots. The standout S facing breaks (mostly in Orange County) and excellent combo spots (mostly in San Diego County), will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a bigger set now and then on the lower tides but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for them either.

Winds will be fairly clean. Mostly light and variable throughout the region…with some very light southerly flow for a few of the more exposed breaks. In general I expect semi-glassy conditions through the morning. NW winds come onshore in the 10-15 knot range by the afternoon…expect the water temps to cool off a touch as these winds start to tear things up.



I think it will be fun tomorrow…nothing outstanding, just sort of playful. If you can I would try and get on it early before the tide fills in…too much water is probably going to swamp out the shape a bit, particularly at spots (like the ones in parts North OC) where the sandbars got chewed up by the bigger S swell last week. If you do have to surf later in the day…try and stick to spots that can handle the tides.


03:59AM LDT -1.6 L
10:26AM LDT 3.6 H
03:00PM LDT 2.0 L
09:12PM LDT 6.9 H

Tuesday’s Surf – A small break in the weather

Tuesday looks surfable…if you don’t mind getting some sort of flesh eating bacteria or bitten by a rattlesnake that has gotten flushed down a storm drain.

Our surf, a mix of local windswell and some WNW/SW background energy, will continue to send in waist-shoulder high surf. Standout breaks will have some bigger sets at times through the morning.

Winds are expected to lighten up…OC and San Diego will have light onshore flow around 10 knots out of the W-NW. LA and Ventura areas will have light/variable winds through the morning. Expect all areas to have onshore NW winds around 10-15 knots by the afternoon.

Water quality will continue to be poor/hazardous despite the improving shape.

Your best bet for surf will be during the dawn patrol through about mid-morning. It isn’t going to be totally glassy but the winds should be the lightest through the morning. I would definitely look to breaks that work better on the shorter period W swells. Some of the point breaks throughout SoCal, (SB all the way through SD), seem to like them…and you will have a better chance at getting a more protected section.