Tuesday’s Surf – Still small with some colder water

Tuesday will actually have a little more swell in the water but it is still not going to be a good surf day.

We are going to have a mix of small S-SW energy (180-220 from a couple of different sources) and some local WNW energy.



Most spots are going to see surf in the knee-thigh high range but inconsistent on the sets, particularly through the higher tides. The top SW facing combo breaks, mostly through San Diego County, will have some chest high+ sets...but again we can expect some inconsistency out of the bigger waves.

Winds look manageable. The eddy circulation will continue but it is forecast to remain on the light side. Expect variable southerly flow through the morning, mostly below 5 knots. Building NW winds 10-15 knots come onshore in the afternoon.

Will it be worth getting wet tomorrow? That is sort of a personal call...the surf will be small, inconsistent, and the water will be colder than it has been...but if you are jonesing you should be able to catch a few on a bigger board, and really any day surfing is much better than working. Don’t spend a lot of time driving around...if you find a workable wave get on it...there won’t really be anything better around the corner.

We do get more swell later this week...we basically can expect a slow build over the next few days and then a decent pulse of SW swell (190-210+) arriving and peaking through Friday into Saturday (and even more on tap a few days after that). So by the end of the week we should have a lot of waist-shoulder high surf for SW facing spots...and a few head high sets at the standout SW breaks. Winds look a little shaky but I think we might be able to power through a little bump for some larger surf. I will have more details as we move throughout the week.

Here are the tides for Tuesday...

12:44AM LDT 0.8 L
06:22AM LDT 3.4 H
11:58AM LDT 1.2 L
06:29PM LDT 5.4 H

Friday's Surf - Waiting for new WNW swell

Friday will still be on the small side for most areas despite the new WNW swell starting to filter into the Northern Counties later in the day.

For the morning expect a slightly better mix of small SSW swells and a touch of local NW windswell.

Most spots will be in the knee high range...but with a few more waist high waves starting to push through at the better breaks. A few of the standout spots, with more exposure to the WNW will have some waist-waist high+ sets.

Winds look good for the morning, mostly light and variable for most areas to light/moderate offshore near the passes and canyons up around North LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.

After lunch start to look for some of that new WNW swell (280-300) starting to creep into SB and Ventura. It won't do much at first but size will start to build as we head towards sundown. There will probably be a few fun sets sneaking in before dark. Other spots further south won't see much increase in size on Friday.

Look for bigger WNW surf on Saturday.

Here are the tides for Friday

04:54AM LST 4.9' High
11:18AM LST 1.5' Low
04:46PM LST 3.9' High
10:58PM LST 0.9' Low

Waves for Labor Day Weekend - a little more energy

There will be some surf this weekend...again nothing super exciting but the wave heights will continue to inch up over the next couple of days.

Both Saturday and Sunday we will have a mix of S-SW swell (185-210), local windswell, and some background WNW energy. None of it will be very big but it should add some power and consistency compared to the weaker waves we have seen most of this week.

Average exposed breaks (the ho-hum SW spots and the top WNW facing ones) will have surf in the knee-waist high+ range...with a few inconsistent chest high sets sneaking through. These areas will continue to be on the soft side unless there is a really good sandbar or section of reef that can help them out.

Top spots, the standout SW facing surf breaks and excellent combo beach breaks, will have waist-chest high surf with a few inconsistent shoulder high sets showing on the lower tide.

Winds are forecast to be on the light side...mostly light and variable in the morning with some pockets of light onshore texture at times. W winds around 10-15 knots will fill in through the afternoons.

Looks like South Orange County and North San Diego (from La Jolla Northward) will have the biggest surf tomorrow. The North South Bay and Southern Ventura will be semi-decent as well but not as big or as consistent.

I don't think that it will be worth driving very far this weekend. The swell mix isn't great and it won't be consistent enough to overcome the weekend crowds. So even if you find a playful peak you are going to sit around waiting for your turn when sets are like 20 minutes apart. (can you say lame). Personally I think your best bet is to surf your local spot, bring gear that can handle the small surf, and try and take it easy. There will be better waves next week as the new S swell fills in...save your energy for those days.

Have a great labor-day weekend!

Less working this weekend!

Friday’s Surf – A little more energy

Friday will be more of a surf day as we see a slight increase in both S-SW and WNW energy.

The new WNW’er is actually showing pretty good up along North and Central California (a fat lot of good that is doing for us)…but some of it is leaking around Point Conception this afternoon. It looks like this energy will hold overnight into Friday and mix with a slight increase in the S-SW energy that has been leaking out of the South Pacific.

Here is the CDIP model from this afternoon…I expect it to be pretty similar tomorrow morning.



Overall most spots will be around waist high…a little inconsistent on sets but fun when they come through. The top NW facing breaks and the better SW facing combo spots will be in the waist-chest high range with the potential for a couple of chest high+ sets on the right tides.

Winds will be on the light side again…mostly light and variable to light S-SW through the morning and then W winds around 10-12 knots by the afternoon, but stronger up at spots North of LA.

I am still not super excited about the surf tomorrow…it will be rideable, but sort of inconsistent and soft even on the sets. If you have the right equipment and the right attitude you can still probably have some fun, but don’t expect any sort of critical sections. Since we have a mix of swells you won’t need to hunt around a ton…likely you will be able to find a halfway decent wave at any of your local spots that have open WNW or SW swell windows.

Wednesday’s Waves – Slow pickup

Wednesday will be barely rideable for most areas…but on average it should be a touch bigger than it was on Tuesday.

We are going to have a mix of very small but increasing SW energy, local windswell, and some of the more northerly counties (like Santa Barbara and Ventura) will see a slight jump in WNW energy late in the evening. (Check out the other post on the WNW’er that I put up before this one).

On average most spots will continue to hold around ankle-knee high with some rare waist high sets. Standout SW facing spots and some of the better combo breaks will have some rare chest high sets. Look for the biggest and most consistent surf to show at the better SW facing spots in San Diego and South Orange County.

Winds are forecast to be clean again on Wednesday with mostly light and variable conditions in the morning. Increasing W winds will build in around 10-15 knots by the afternoon.

Personally I don’t think it is going to be much of a surf day…but I generally get bogged down in surf that is below waist high and have to resort to longboarding just to get any sort of ride. If you are just looking to paddle around, maybe catch an inconsistent set or two, and look at the girls/guys/seagulls on the beach then it would still be worth throwing the board in the car…but just don’t drive very far for your beach day.

Tuesday's Surf - Slow pick up

Tuesday will be a small surf day...it will be rideable but slow and a bit soft overall.

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of S-SW swells, (one fading and new one slowly filling in), and some local NW windswell.

Most spots with some exposure to the SW'er will be around knee high with some waist high sets. Spots that will be working off just the NW windswell will be mostly knee high and below.

Standout SW facing breaks and good combo surf spots in San Diego and Orange County will have surf more consistently around waist high...with some sets getting close to chest high on the lower tides.

Winds are looking good...mostly light and variable in the morning with some increasing W flow around midday that tops out close to 10-12 knots later in the afternoon.

Here is a look at the latest CDIP Model...this is showing the "Nowcast" from Monday afternoon. By tomorrow morning there will be a bit more SW swell leaking in to the exposed areas.




While it won't be really all that good it will have more "push" than the weekend, particularly at the standout OC and SD areas. Is it worth $4.49 a gallon to get to those spots? No not really...but if you are close by those will be best bet.

Really it might be nice to get out and start to shake the dust off from this latest flat spell...we have more surf, both from the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics, on tap later this week so look for increasing surf to start arriving by Thursday and building into the weekend.