Surf for Wednesday - Fading but fun

Wednesday looks like a surf day...mostly because the winds will be light/moderate offshore and we will have sunny skies...not because of the swell.

There will be waves. We will have a mix of small leftover WNW swell and some slowly increasing S-SSW energy. Most spots will hold around waist high...maybe waist high+ on the lower tides. Standout breaks, really just the good combo breaks, will have some chest and inconsistent shoulder high waves on the lower midday tides as well.

Check out the CDIP...it ain't totally dark blue but it is getting close.



Really the weather is what is going to make it more of a surf day. The Santa Ana flow picked up on Tuesday and in a few of the better positioned areas in Ventura, LA, OC, and parts of SD, it created some fun surf out of waves that would have been a bit marginal if the winds had been lighter...or even crappy surf if they had turned even slightly onshore. It looks like more of the same on Wednesday...sort of light/ moderate offshore flow for the morning and then more moderate Santa Ana conditions through most of the day. Eventually winds back off and turn more N-NW by the afternoon. Passes and Canyons are going to see the strongest gusts particularly around LA/Ventura areas.

Shapewise you are going to want to avoid the dawn patrol...the high tide is going to really kill shape for most spots...even with the cleaner winds. Expect lots of burger shape with some lovely offshore shorebreak for most spots through the morning. I would probably plan on checking the combo beach breaks as the tide starts dropping and see if you can pick off some peaks as we get a little less water. Areas that are prone to stronger Santa Ana's and like combo swells will be the best call tomorrow.

Here are the tides...

06:16AM LST 6.4 H (stupid high tide)
01:45PM LST -1.0 L
08:04PM LST 3.6 H

Tuesday's Surf - Cleaner, smaller, with a touch of high-tideness

Tuesday looks like a surf day...but we are going to probably want to wait for the high tide to drop.

We will have a mix of backing off WNW swell and some smaller but consistent SSW energy that is holding in the background.



Average spots will be in the waist-chest high+ range while the top WNW standouts and excellent combo breaks see surf around chest-head high on sets. The bigger waves will be less consistent through the morning thanks to the high tide swamp but we should see more playful shape as the tide drops through midday.

Winds look decent...mostly light and variable to light offshore for most spots in the morning with some stronger NE gusts around the LA/Ventura passes and Canyons. Light onshore winds develop through the afternoon.

If you have the flexibility to work around the tide that is going to be your best call...there should still be plenty of fun waves at the better exposed spots throughout SoCal once the tide starts to drain out. SD will have the biggest surf since it is still picking up more of the WNW-NW energy...but the combo breaks throughout the other areas should have some playful peaks sneaking through...particularly at the more exposed beach breaks.

Here are the tides...have a good one.

05:37AM LST 6.0 H (damn)
01:00PM LST -0.3 L
07:09PM LST 3.5 H
11:57PM LST 1.8 L