Surf for Tuesday – Still a few fun ones

Tuesday looks pretty surfable…

Swellwise we will still have a few waves from a mix of overlapping local WNW-NW windswell and some new medium-period WNW swell (280-300). Overall size is going to feel a little smaller as the windswell drops off and turns a bit more northerly.



Look for most breaks with some WNW exposure to hold in the waist-chest high range on Tuesday. Better NW facing spots will be in the waist-shoulder high range while the standout breaks see some chest-head high sets. Look for biggest surf through Southern San Diego and a few parts of Ventura and the South Bay.

Winds look good on Tuesday with light and variable to light offshore flow and slowly clearing skies on tap through the morning. Mild-moderate NW winds around 10-12 knots will move in through the afternoon.



Overall we should still be able to get a few fun waves at the better exposed spots…and a few smaller peaks at most other breaks. Shape will be a bit on the soft side through the morning thanks to the 6-foot high tide that peaks right around 7:30…but if you can wait a couple of hours till midmorning the tide should back off enough to speed things up.

Here are the tides…

12/15/2009 Tuesday
01:20AM LST 2.3 L
07:30AM LST 6.0 H
03:02PM LST -0.9 L
09:30PM LST 3.6 H

Surf for Tuesday – Cleaner but still small

Tuesday is looking more surfable but there still isn’t much in the water to surf.

We are going to have a mix of slowly fading WNW energy (a mix of both short-period windswell and some longer-period leftovers) and some slowly increasing SSW swell (190-215).



Most spots will have surf in the knee high range with some inconsistent waist high sets. The standout combo areas and good NW windswell spots (mostly in San Diego) will have some waist-chest high sets...maybe a plus on the lower tides.

Winds look better tomorrow...the eddy will be not as pronounced and it looks like we could have light/variable winds through the morning. I would count on some WNW flow for Santa Barbara and Ventura...but mostly around 5 knots. The other areas will be more variable but don’t rule out a little bump at the more protected areas.

I would probably plan on bringing the small wave boards if you surf tomorrow...personally I am probably going to shine it...just so I can get caught up on some stuff (and blow off the end of the week if swell and conditions come together). I would stick to the combo beach breaks if you can...just because they might have a few more peakier sets sneaking through than the other areas.

Here are the tides...

03:19AM LDT 0.4 L
09:13AM LDT 5.6 H
03:47PM LDT -0.7 L
09:54PM LDT 5.1 H

Monday’s Surf – 6-foot burrito hangover

Monday looks surfable…I don’t know that I would call it a “Surf Day” but there will be lots of WNW energy out in the water for the exposed breaks and some of the more protected spots will have some cleaner conditions trying to sneak in through the morning.

Swellwise we are going to have a mix of WNW-NW energy (both medium and short-period swell from 280-300+) and some background S-SW swell.



Most spots with some exposure to the WNW’ers will have surf in the waist-shoulder high range. The standout WNW facing breaks in Ventura, the South Bay, and San Diego in particular will have consistent head high and overhead sets with some bigger waves sneaking through.

Winds and conditions are what I like to call fragile…there will be lighter winds in the morning but the general onshore flow will continue in the waters just of the coast. Winds along the beach get a bit fluky and we can see some periods of cleanliness that fall apart pretty quick by midmorning. Afternoon winds will build out of the NW around 10-15+ knots.

Surf Shape, increasing winds, and butt-ass cold water temps are the three biggest issues I have with our surf tomorrow. The windswell, particularly the nasty mess we had on Sunday, doesn’t do a great job generating rideable waves for most spots, there are a few breaks (most beach breaks) that do ok but the points/reefs don’t handle the swell that well. Add in that the wind is likely to get right back on the horse early tomorrow and that the same wind just dropped water temps a trillion degrees with all the upwelling and you have a recipe for being unmotivated…but hey that is just me and I am still a little hungover from my B-day and the total destruction of the 6-foot burrito.


just to give it perspective... that is the bed of a full size toyota tundra

As you can imagine giant burrito = awesome!

Here are the tides

12:05AM LST 1.1’ Low
06:19AM LST 5.7’ High
01:10PM LST 0.2’ Low
07:06PM LST 4.2’ High

Thursday's Surf - Finally a few clean(er) ones

Thursday is looking more like a surf day...at worst it will be quite a bit better than the mess we had on Wednesday.

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of WNW windswell and some slowly building SW swell (190-210). Look for mostly waist high+ surf at the average spots. Standout combo breaks, mostly in San Diego, Southern Ventura County, parts of the South Bay, and South Orange County, see some chest-shoulder high sets on the lower tides.

Winds are forecast to improve...starting off light and variable in the morning and then turning onshore out of the NW around 10-15 knots by the afternoon. I would still plan on a little onshore texture in the morning but in general the wind will be light enough to surf for most spots.

I think that the combo beach breaks (in the areas I mentioned above) will be the best call for surf on Thursday. It won't be great...but it won't be as sucky as Wednesday either...probably somewhere in-between. The mix of swell isn't all that great of a combo...the windswell will be dropping and gutless and the SW swell will be inconsistent and a bit finicky as to what beaches will have decent exposure. I would still plan on making a cam check in the morning...and if it looks halfway decent bringing a board/gear that can make the most of smaller (and sort of mushy) surf.