Thursday’s Surf – Another surf day…man I love fall

Thursday will be another surf day.

In the morning we are going to see a mix of slowly backing down SW swell (200-220), some steady but slightly smaller WNW-NW energy (285-300), and just a tiny touch of local windswell.

By the afternoon we will have a new, stronger WNW-NW swell (280-300) start to arrive, it will be showing mostly up in the Santa Barbara and Ventura areas, but we may have enough energy leak southward that it starts to pick up at the better WNW facing spots in LA, OC, and San Diego. I am not expecting a big jump in size for those other counties but it might add a little extra pop to the energy already in the water.

I do, however, expect this new WNW-NW swell to fill in more Thursday night and eventually peak on Friday. Check out the CDIP run for the next couple of days…

Thursday Morning



Thursday Afternoon



Friday Morning



Ok for the dawn patrol tomorrow…even though the new swell won’t have filled in yet we will still have plenty of fun energy in the water. The average exposed spots are going to continue to see surf in the waist-chest high range with a few shoulder high sets pushing through on the lower morning tide. The better SW/NW exposed combo spots, and the other top spots that can really focus the NW or the SW swells separately, will be more consistently in the chest-shoulder high range on the average sets and hitting the head high to even a little overhead on the bigger less consistent sets. The combo breaks are going to be a lot more consistent thanks to the mix of swells filling in the gaps.

By the afternoon…no real changes for most of Socal…but the exposed spots in Santa Barbara (mostly Southern Santa Barbara) and Ventura will start to feel the new WNW-NW swell start to arrive. Again it won’t add a ton of size but it will help make things a lot more consistent at the winter spots. I am still expecting the average spots to hold around waist-shoulder high (smaller up in Santa Barbara), while the top breaks in Ventura get more consistently shoulder-head high with more overhead sets trying to push through before dark.

Winds for tomorrow…pretty similar to Wednesday…so light and variable to light offshore in the morning and then only light onshore for the afternoon. Stronger N winds are forecasted for Santa Barbara and Ventura (around the passes and canyons in particular). Overall it looks pretty clean for the first half of the day and only slightly bumpy through the afternoon…sunny and warm most of the day as well.



So for tomorrow…your best bet is to really just get out and get some waves…the swell mix is putting rideable surf all over SoCal…and you can find a little (and sometimes not so little) peak to ride in almost every region. The crowd was definitely showing at my home break this morning, and I expect that it will be the same tomorrow. Personally I am going to head out in the early morning, try to take advantage of the lower tide, and find an empty stretch of beach break to set up shop.

Here are the tides…hope you guys find a few corners as well.

01:05AM LDT 3.4 H
05:02AM LDT 2.8 L
11:24AM LDT 5.3 H
07:26PM LDT 0.5 L

Surf Photos – W swell from last Thursday

The W swell last week did some cool stuff…and I am still getting lots of pictures from you guys (please send them over…I love surf photos).

Anyway here are a few cool ones for our prone brethren…some silly dumpy barrels on that W swell. (Photos taken 10/15)

Check out the almond shaped barrel at the end…the section is like 3’ high but the whitewash is 8’…crazy

Waves for Wednesday – a little more juice

Wednesday will be a surf day…though we still have to power through the midmorning high tide swamp.

In the water we are going to see a mix of slowly fading SW swell (200-220), some building NW energy (290-300), and some small local windswell that is hanging in the background.



The average spots are going to hold around waist-chest high on most sets coming through…it will be primarily the NW swell mix so look for the most consistent surf at spots with exposure to that direction. The SW facing spots will be less consistent, but about the same size on the sets. Standout breaks, mostly the top NW/SW spots and the best combo spots, will be in the chest-shoulder high range on sets with a few bigger head high sets on the lower tides.

Winds look good…mostly light offshore through the morning, with a couple of pockets of variable direction texture. There is a chance for some morning fog again…very patchy like the last time…but it may whip up a little bump if it settles on your region. Afternoon winds are supposed to be mellow…but look for building onshore bump for the most exposed areas as winds pick up a bit out of the NW by mid-afternoon.



It won’t be great tomorrow…but the mix of swells, one of which will be fairly consistent, and the nice conditions will make a good case to at least paddle around a bit. The tides will be a bit problematic but even with the extra water there are still a few corners to find. I think that your best bet is going to be the good combo spots during the dawn patrol…with the best shape at the beach breaks that can handle a bit of tide…though the points/reefs will be an ok fallback.

Here are the tides…hope you get some humpday love.

04:36AM LDT 2.4 L
10:49AM LDT 5.7 H
06:28PM LDT 0.1 L