Ajo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards.

Honestly, for the next 16 days, I’m not getting too excited. The whole window is a bit of a struggle, with nothing really lining up for a proper surf. There are a few days where the ocean offers a little something, but the quality just isn’t there.

The first real chance to get wet is on Sunday, July 5th, at Ajo. We’re looking at small 2ft swell from the northwest with an 11-second period, so there’s a bit of energy there, but the wind is a light east-northeast cross-on. It’s clean enough for a log or a foamie, but the waves are weak – the combined energy is only 99, so we’re in the “weak” category. The water is sitting at 72°, which is way warmer than normal for this time of year – about 5° above the average.

The swell stays tiny through the first week, with heights mostly 1ft to 2ft. The winds aren’t helping, with a lot of cross and cross-on breezes the whole time. There are a few sessions (like Thursday the 9th and Monday the 13th) where the wind goes light and even offshore for a bit, but the swell is just too small to make anything of it. The period drops below 8 seconds a lot too, so the waves are weak and sectiony.

We get a bit of a pulse on Sunday, July 12th, with the swell bumping up to 3ft and then 4ft, and the energy reading hits 140 then 182 – that’s moderate energy. But the wind is onshore from the north, and the comment is “poor surf conditions”. The same story for Monday the 13th: 3ft to 3ft, wind offshore from the north-northwest, but the period is only 8 seconds, so it’s a messy, short-period swell.

The only one that stands out is a bigger pulse on Friday the 17th. Swell jumps to 5ft from the northwest. That’s too big for beginners, but alright for more experienced surfers. The energy hits 204 and 208, which is strong. But here’s the kicker – the wind is howling from the west at 9 mph and then 19 mph, creating a lumpy, cross-chop. The period is only 6 to 7 seconds, so it’s a wind-driven mess. Ajo being a beach setup, this looks more like a day for the kite surfers than for a clean paddle session. The water temperature anomaly isn’t available for those dates, so I can’t comment on that.

After that, it fizzles back to tiny swell and no real standouts for the rest of the window.

If I had to pick a “best” of a bad bunch, it would be the Thursday the 9th morning session, with 2ft swell, a 10-second period, and the lightest wind of the whole run. That’s a glassy little session for a longboard. Or maybe the Monday 13th afternoon, with a 3ft north-northwest swell and light offshore wind – the period is short (8 seconds), but the wind is clean. Still, nothing to drive for.

The forecast is fairly reliable for the first week, but the long-range stuff on the 17th is more uncertain, so don’t book the time off just yet.

Rusty.

Read more