Surf for Friday – Swamptacular!

Friday will be a nice beach day (once it warms up)…but there isn’t going to be much surf.

We will have a mix of quickly fading short-period NW energy and some stubborn (and small) SW swell (200-220) that is holding in the background. Expect the NW swell to continue to drop off as we move through the day.



Unfortunately the dawn patrol is going to get whacked with a 5’+ high tide that will peak right around 7:30am, which is going to steamroll the surf at most breaks. Once the tide starts dropping we will have a little surf sneak through setting up some knee-knee high+ waves at the average exposed spots…and maybe a little waist high set on the breaks that handle the higher tides a little better. The standout NW facing spots, mostly through Southern SD, Southern Ventura, and parts of the South Bay, will have a little more size…more in the knee-waist high range on the average sets and then a couple waist-chest high waves on the biggest sets. Remember to watch the tide…even the top spots are going to flatten out as it peaks.

Winds look good tomorrow (of course we don’t have surf so they don’t need to mess with us)…look for light-offshore for most beaches and some slightly stronger offshore gusts at the usual wind-prone passes and canyons. Winds stay light for the afternoon…just coming onshore around 5-10 knots later in the day.



So for tomorrow…I would probably stay in bed. It will be butt-cold again tomorrow morning and the water temps have dropped down into the upper 50’s in some areas…to top it off the weak swell mix will be burgered out with the peaking tide…so there won’t even be much to paddle for that could help keep you warm. Personally I am going to take it easy in the morning…maybe go on donut patrol…wait for the air to warm up and the tide to drop. Hopefully the tide will drain enough to set up a few longboard peaks before the wind starts to tweak it too much.

Here are the tides…

01:19AM LDT 1.1 L
07:31AM LDT 5.2 H
02:07PM LDT 0.9 L
07:56PM LDT 4.2 H

Tuesday's Surf - more Santa Ana winds but not much surf

Tuesday is not looking like a surf day at least in the morning.

I hunted around for some waves on Monday even though I knew that there wasn't much out there. I don't know about you guys but I always find it is pretty frustrating to have Santa Ana winds with no surf...seems like it should be illegal or something. So every time we get these winds I always have to drive down to the beach just to make sure it is flat...it is almost like OCD or something. Anyway enough about my ongoing need for therapy. This sort of sums up my surf search this morning.


Man we ain't found sh$t!

For Tuesday there isn't going to be much swell showing in the morning...we can expect mostly leftovers and a 5'+ high tide that is going to bury any small surf that we would have seen.

So for the dawn patrol I am expecting most spots to be in the knee-high range with a few waist high sets sneaking through on the absolute best sandbars. Winds will be offshore (sometimes strongly offshore) so look for tiny dumpy closeouts with a lot of offshore spray. It will look pretty but don't plan on surfing much.

By the afternoon we will start to see a slow increase in surf, as well as better tides, (winds sort of screw us by then though). We have a new SW swell (200-210) and a new WNW swell (290-300). The WNW'er will hit primarily in Ventura and the South Bay before sundown (it hits more in San Diego after dark), and the SW'er will hit more in Orange County and N. San Diego. Those areas with exposure to the new swells will have some more consistent waist-chest high waves by the afternoon. Windwise it looks like the Santa Ana's that we have all morning will shift onshore out of the WNW and blow around 10-15 knots for the afternoon. (Sucks that when we finally get waves conditions poo on uss.)

I would plan on taking it easy tomorrow morning...the high tide really is going to shut things down. I am planning on watching the cameras and keeping an eye on them around lunchtime...I am sort of crossing my fingers that a little of the new swell can slip in before the winds start to switch around...I am not holding my breath but it is worth a few minutes of time on the computer.

Looks like Wednesday will be a better surf day...the Santa Ana's will shut down but the new WNW/SW swell mix will start to peak and it looks like clean conditions most of the day. More details on Wednesday tomorrow.

Tides on Tuesday

02:54AM 0.9' Low
08:57AM 6.0' High
03:42PM -0.3' Low
09:44PM 4.6i High