Surf on Wednesday – New WNW swell…but make sure to read the small print

Wednesday will be a surf day…(wait for it)…for select areas.

In the water we will have a new WNW swell (290-300) and some small SW energy. The WNW swell will be a little too steep to make it into most breaks…a lot of the energy is actually about the 295 range so it will skip over a lot of Southern California.

The average spots, that have little exposure to the WNW’er will be around knee-waist high off the mix of small SW swell and leftover windswell.

The better NW facing spots in Ventura, the LA South Bay, and most of San Diego will be bigger with waves more consistently in the waist-shoulder high range. Standout spots, in southern Ventura, and South San Diego (and northern Baja) will have some head high almost overhead sets mixing in on the better tides.

Weather and winds will be nice…mostly light and variable to light offshore for most of SoCal in the morning. Onshore winds out of the NW build in around 10-12 knots through the afternoon.

Check out this CDIP swell map…(psst I made some really subtle notes on it…you will have to look close)



Listen if you are looking for bigger, (shoulder-head high+), surf your best bet is to head down to San Diego, particularly spots from La Jolla southward. Northern Baja would be a good bet as well.

Unfortunately most of us can’t take the day off and just drive around like some sort of nomadic surf herder…so if you have to stay close, and don’t live in SD, then expect the surf to be smaller and a bit softer…probably even better for a fish, (or a longboard at a purely summer spot). Personally, because I have been chained to this computer (I ordered a hacksaw on craigslist!), I will probably just keep an eye on the local beach breaks…if they start looking fun on the surf-cams I will probably motivate and go catch a few.

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.

Thursday’s Surf – Waves with a touch of the Swamp Thing

Thursday will be another surf day…and other day that starts off by getting buried by the morning high tide.

Swellwise we will have the seemingly endless combo swell mix of both WNW and SW energy. Unfortunately these swells will have to try and push surf through a 5.6’ high tide that peaks around 7:30-8am.

Since the tide peak is a little later in the morning than the last couple of days there may be a small surf window right as the sun comes up…literally…and if you want to try and get a few waves before the shape totally bogs out you are going to want to be changing into your suit in the dark and paddling out before you can really see anything.

Once the tide peaks expect surf in the waist-chest high+ range for most spots…but expect a lot of that size to be shorebreak. Standout high-tide combo spots will be bigger…closer to shoulder high+ but shape will be slow at those breaks as well.

As the tide drops through mid-morning expect a lot of improvement. The average exposed breaks will get more consistently into the waist-shoulder high range and the standouts will see head high sets. Expect the biggest and most consistent surf through the best combo spots in San Diego and Orange County.

Winds look better for Thursday…expect light NE winds around 5-8 knots through the morning with some onshore NW texture below 10 knots developing through the afternoon.

Your best bet for surf on Thursday…if you just can’t motivate yourself to become a Dawn Patrol Warrior…is to wait for the tide to drop. I think the winds will hold off a bit longer than they have compared to the last couple of days so we may have less bump on the water as the tide becomes less of an issue. I think beach breaks and the reefs will have the most fun shape but the points will have workable waves (on the lower tide) as well.

Here is a random beach picture from the other night…the surf isn’t great but it was a nice shot…makes me want to have a mai-tai…