Ano Nuevo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Hey folks, it's Rusty. Gotta be straight with you – looking at this 16-day stretch for Ano Nuevo, it's a tough watch. We're staring down a long, long dry spell before anything remotely rideable shows up. The setup is a sheltered beach and reef, so it needs everything to line up, and for the vast majority of this forecast, the wind just won't play ball. Consistent 9 to 19 mph cross-shore breezes from the northwest are going to chop up the surface, and on top of that, the swell energy is all over the place. Don't expect much; we're looking at weak to moderate energy levels (the combined energy figures bounce around from 357 up to 1219, but the quality is just never there). The water temperature anomaly is about average for this time of year, so nothing to write home about there.

From now all the way through the morning of Thursday, 3 September, it's basically one long gap of poor surf conditions. The afternoon of Thursday, 28 August, saw a glimmer with 5 ft of short-period (6 seconds) NW windswell and some cross-offshore wind, but that's gone in an instant and the overall score was still a zero. The pattern is relentless – cross-shore winds, onshore flow, or just completely messy conditions. Even the bigger swell pulses, like Saturday, 29 August's 4 ft SSW groundswell at 18 seconds (a nice long period), were just ruined by that 16 mph cross-wind. The combined energy that day hit 1219 (moderate), but the "poor surf conditions" tag tells the real story.

Finally, there's a tiny, tiny light at the end of the tunnel. Heading into Friday, 4 September, and Saturday, 5 September, things change. Friday morning kicks off with heavy rain and a glassy, flat calm from the north-northeast. The swell is a 3 ft long-period SSW groundswell (18 seconds) with moderate combined energy of 809. The whole day shows glassy wind conditions. This is the standout. Saturday morning also looks promising, with early glassy winds from the west-northwest and a 3 ft SSW groundswell (16 seconds, combined energy of 510). It’s not huge, but the key here is the wind. For a sheltered spot like Ano Nuevo, clean conditions are everything, and these are the only two windows we get. Because this spot is inconsistent anyway, these two days look like the best – and possibly only – chance of a wave worth paddling for. The swell direction (SSW) is right in the optimum range for the break. The crowds it says are sometimes an issue, but on a Friday with a small, glassy wave, it might be worth the risk.

After that brief window, it's right back to the same old story: northwest winds, cross-shore chop, and a return to poor conditions for the rest of the second week. The morning of Saturday, 5 September, is your best bet if you can make it.

Stay hopeful, stay patient. The surf in these parts can be a fickle beast, but when it cleans up, it's special.

- Rusty

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