Did I mention...

...the S swell is still filling in? Yep it sure is. Sizewise for Monday we can probably shave a little off the top...but not much just a little less consistency on the bigger waves. I am still thinking that most of the better exposed S facing beaches will hit shoulder-head high on the sets with some inconsistent overhead sets mixing in. Standout S-SSW facing spots will have more consistent head high to overhead+ with sets going 2-feet overhead and a little bigger on the big sets. Still a chance for some larger waves at the focal breaks.

Also the winds look a lot better tomorrow morning as well.



Maybe the lag on the peak of the swell is now a good thing...hitting after a normally crazy beach holiday and on a day with much better winds.

Surf for Friday – Combo swell and offshore winds

Friday will be a surf day…water quality still won’t be great…but with a still playful swell combo, warming beach temps, and light offshore winds…I don’t think many of us will stay out of the water.

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of fading W-WNW swell (275-300 but again with most of the energy around the 285-300 degree range, which means that the larger surf will be at the better NW facing breaks…not the purely W facing ones) and some peaking S swell (180-200). The bigger sets from the W-WNW will be dropping out fast but there will be enough energy to keep us surfing…and plenty of juice to cross up the S swell sets at the combo breaks.



Look for the average exposed spots to see surf in the chest-shoulder high range…a little inconsistent on the sets and getting more tide sensitive…but still plenty fun. The top NW facing spots, mostly through San Diego and Ventura, will be in the chest-head high range with still a few bigger waves mixing in through the lower tides. The best combo spots, pulling in the S swell and the WNW energy…mostly in Orange County and Northern San Diego…will be more consistently in the chest-head high range again with some bigger waves on the best sets.

Winds look good…forecasts are calling for a light Santa Ana (Santana to some of you) to form tonight and hold into tomorrow morning. Look for light-offshore winds out of the N-NE for most areas…and some stronger offshore flow near passes and canyons that funnel down to the beach. Light and variable winds are expected for the afternoon…but look out for some onshore bump forming through the mid-afternoon.



There is one downer tomorrow, which is the morning tide swing…we have a big fat 6-foot high that hits right around 8:15am. That tide isn’t going to do us any favors…but fortunately we have enough swell still coming through that we should be able to find waves…and to top it off the winds look good enough to keep it clean as the tide drops. Personally I am going to slow my morning roll and try to paddle out midmorning and see if I can take advantage of the light winds and dropping tide…hopefully to find some local combo swell goodness.

Here are the tides…hope you get a few fun ones tomorrow too!

02:08AM LDT 0.4 L
08:17AM LDT 5.9 H (dirty swampthing!)
02:49PM LDT 0.0 L
08:45PM LDT 5.0 H

Surf for Tuesday – S swell continues (and gets a little more SW)

Tuesday will be a surf day...but like Monday you are going to need to find a spot that can help break up the swell...otherwise it is just walls-o-rama and the current-paddle-treadmill.

No joke...at about 10 a.m. I took a drive from HB State Beach all the way up through Bolsa Chica, which is a pretty darn big stretch of beach break, and I think I counted 10 guys out surfing through the whole stretch. Mostly it was just overhead section walls and a current that was probably rolling around 10 knots on the inside. Anyway I just thought I would share...until this swell starts to back down a bit you might want to avoid the really open beach breaks.

Swellwise on Tuesday we are going to see the S-swell (170-190) continue to hold while SW swell (200-220) peaks.



Wave heights will continue to run around shoulder-head high at the average S-SW facing spots. Standout S facing breaks through Orange County, North San Diego, and Northern LA, will have overhead sets. In a few of the spots that can really focus the S swell mix look for sets going a couple feet+ overhead at times.

Winds will be ok...sort of slight-eddyish...so variable to light southerly through the morning but mostly below 5-6 knots. Winds shift SW-W around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.



Points and reefs are going to continue to be the best call on Tuesday...we just need something to break up the swell. The piers/jetties will be a good fallback but I would rate them as a far second choice compared to some long point somewhere. Just an FYI to OC surfers...the NSSA Nationals are back in town for this week...they are going to be at Salt Creek the 17-20th and then at Lower Trestles the 22-27th. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up if you were planning on surfing those spots since water access might be a bit limited.

Here are the tides

03:43AM LDT 3.1 H
09:56AM LDT 1.3 L
04:51PM LDT 4.6 H

Oh you might want to check out the Daily Bread blog...he has some sick shots of the swell hitting this morning.

Surf for Friday – more S swell

Friday will be another surf day but, like Thursday, you are going to have to battle it out at the points and reefs if you want quality surf.

That S-SSW swell (180-210) will continue to peak on Friday and mix with just some minimal NW windswell.

Most spots will have surf in the chest-shoulder high+ range with some head high sets. The top S facing spots, mostly through OC, SD, and North LA, will have more consistent shoulder-head high surf with overhead+ sets mixing in at times. Look for some occasionally bigger waves at those spots that really focus S swells.

Winds look sort of borderline tomorrow...not good but not horrible either. We should have light/variable to light-S flow for the morning. Winds should generally be below 5-8 knots but there may be some texture to it. Look for SW-W winds to develop through the afternoon and come onshore around 10-15+20 knots in the more exposed areas. If you are in the right spot (IE protected from the S winds) you might even be able to pick off some cleaner conditions.



Points and reefs are going to be the call again on Friday...beach breaks are going to continue to be walled up, sectiony, and have a decent current running at times. The beach breaks will have some occasional corners...so don’t count them completely out...I just wouldn’t count on them to be very fun. Expect some bigger crowds at the spots that can hold the swell better. The high tide hits around 9-10am tomorrow so there might be a little more of a tide-friendly surf window during the dawn patrol...but don’t expect it to last long.

Here are the tides...

03:32AM LDT -0.6 L
09:37AM LDT 4.0 H
03:04PM LDT 1.1 L
09:09PM LDT 5.9 H

Swell Update: S swell is here

I love seeing real energy on the Socal Model...and winds aren't out of control...hope you guys get some today.

Thursday’s Surf – Peaking S swell with a touch of eddy

Thursday is looking like a surf day...but thanks to eddy winds you might have to hunt around for a truly clean spot.

The S swell (180-210) is filling in nicely this afternoon...plenty of energy showing on the buoys with lots of it in the 20-second period range. Check it out.




The swell will actually peak closer to 15-17 seconds...so there is still some more energy on its way in. We are also going to see some slowly building local windswell but I don’t think it is going to help to break up the S swell all that much.

For Thursday look for the average exposed S-facing breaks to see surf in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets. Standout S-swell spots, mostly through Orange County, San Diego, and a few parts of North LA, will have more consistent shoulder-head high surf with overhead sets mixing in as well. OC and SD will have some bigger sets on the lower tides...but only at select spots that can really focus the longer-period S swell.

I think winds are going to be an issue...the forecast has some building winds in the outer waters, as well as a couple of weak low-pressure that move through our region over the next couple of days. This set up obviously cooled off the beach temps and spun up the eddy/marine layer on Wednesday...and it is expected to do similar things on Thursday. At this point I think that there will be variable winds in the morning...and a little bit of southerly flow for OC and SD...but if you have a spot with high-cliffs, kelp, or something to block the winds it should be ok.

Here are the winds for the morning...

Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles


Orange County and San Diego


I think the points/reefs are going to be the call tomorrow...the beach breaks are going to pretty walled up unless you have a pier/jetty/huge-ass-sandbar to break up the S-swell lines. Unfortunately that also means there is going to be plenty of current at the exposed spots too...so expect to do some paddling tomorrow in some areas. The tide is also high in the morning (man can’t anything go our way) so you will have to work around that as well.

While winds don’t improve a ton later this week (and weekend) it does look like more windswell will work its way into SoCal...hopefully we will see the beach breaks open up a bit more as it starts to cross things up. Check out the sideways CDIP forecast for the next few days.



Here are the tides...

02:54AM LDT -0.1 L
08:52AM LDT 4.1 H
02:35PM LDT 0.9 L
08:39PM LDT 5.6 H

Surf for Monday – Peaking S swell

Monday will be a surf day.

We have S swell building in tonight that will be peaking on Monday…as well as bit of background energy from local NW windswell and some WNW energy (from out in the NPAC). The S swell is showing some decent energy on the buoys already and it looks like the majority of the swell will peak on Monday and into Tuesday. Check out the O-side buoy.



The average spots will see surf in the chest-shoulder high range on Monday. The better combo spots will be more consistently in the shoulder-head high range. The standout S facing spots, mostly through Orange County and the Northern parts of San Diego, will see some inconsistent overhead sets. Look for the biggest surf at those top summer spots that usually work good on the S swells.

Winds look good for Monday…mostly light and variable through the morning. Moderate onshore winds build in through the afternoon…coming out the of the WNW around 10-14 knots at the most exposed breaks.

Is this swell worth driving? Yeah I think so…it will be pretty good but it won’t be huge or firing…it sort of depends on what your “trigger” is for driving for surf. If you need double-overhead walls of death this probably isn’t the best swell. If you are looking for consistent shoulder-head high S lines…then it will be worth hunting around a bit.

Personally I think that the points and reefs are going to be the best shape…the beach breaks are going to be a bit lined up on the sets…but the other breaks will be able to string together some longer sections. Again I would focus on the good summer spots…the combo breaks will be fun too but the summer breaks will have the most size.

Here are the tides…

06:41AM LDT 0.0 L
01:08PM LDT 2.9 H
05:12PM LDT 2.3 L
11:38PM LDT 4.8 H