Tuesday’s Surf – still a few fun ones hiding out there

Tuesday will be an ok/marginal surf day in select areas…but both the tide and the generally small swell will cause problems at times.

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of holding/fading NW swells (290-300 but with most of the energy above the 295-degree mark) and some background SW energy (200-220). The NW’er is pretty steeply angled so it is only showing at the really exposed winter breaks…check out how is filters through the nearshore islands on the CDIP…




The average spots are going to see just a minor touch of the NW energy and the background SW swell…so they are going to stay on the small side…mostly in the knee-waist high range. Standout NW facing spots in Ventura, the South Bay, and San Diego, will be in the waist-chest high range with a couple of bigger sets mixing in on the lower tides.

Winds look good again…mostly light and variable to light-offshore for the morning. W winds around 10-12 knots will build up in the afternoon but shouldn’t be bad enough to chunk up shape horribly, I would keep an eye on a potential clean-up near the end of the day.



Like I said it will be surfable, even sort-of fun, in the areas with NW exposure…or really good NW combo spots. It won’t, however, be all that consistent or big even at the top breaks. I would plan on trying to avoid the high tide, and sticking to your small wave gear…mostly longboards at the average spots but you might be able to get away with a thicker fishy board at a few of the standout breaks that can handle a little bit more tide.

Here are the tides…have a good one.

02:08AM LST 1.8 L
08:17AM LST 6.3 H
03:36PM LST -0.7 L
09:54PM LST 3.7 H

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.

Wednesday’s Surf – High tide sort of blows

Wednesday will be a surf day…but we have to get over the high tide hump in the morning.

In the water we will have a continuing mix of WNW and S-SW swell, which will set up some fun waves as we get to the lower tide.

For the morning expect surf in the waist-chest high range for many breaks, standout combo breaks will be bigger. Unfortunately shape is going to be very soft…and many spots will be almost completely shorebreak even when the sets come through.

As the tide drops look for average exposed breaks to fill in a touch…hitting mostly chest-shoulder high on sets. Standout combo areas, mostly through San Diego and Orange County, will have some head high sets at times. Looks like the beach breaks will have the best shape but expect fun waves at reefs and points as well.

Weather looks good for the morning. Mostly light and variable winds expected through the first part of the day. Onshore NW winds build in around 10 knots in the afternoon.

Random Surf Rant: This forecast highlights one of the quintessential dilemmas with the surf in SoCal. You have 2 issues that actually conspire to keep us from getting quality waves, particularly with these winter tides (and shorter winter days). As many of you know the morning hours are generally when conditions are the cleanest in SoCal…so if you want clean, glassy surf you want to go out in the morning. Then you get a 5’+ high tide that rolls through during the dawn patrol and flattens almost every break in SoCal.

So the wind and the tide tag team up and you spend all morning watching the race between the two…hoping the tide will drop fast enough that you can score a few waves before the wind comes up, which rarely seems to happen.

This is pretty fresh in my mind because I spent all of Tuesday morning watching this very thing happen, and then right before the surf started to get good with the lower tide...it blew out.

On Wednesday we will have similar conditions and tides…but it looks like winds may be a little lighter through mid-morning. Your best bet is to wait, (with your fingers crossed) for the tide to drop…because the surf is going to be really slow in the morning. Once the tide drops look for the biggest waves at those good combo breaks...particularly the beach breaks in SD and OC.