Ballona Creek and Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, it’s Rusty here. Let’s be straight about Ballona Creek and Jetty for the next couple of weeks. Honestly, this stretch is looking pretty bleak for a solid paddle session for most of the run. We’re looking at a long, quiet stretch right through until the end of the third week, with only one real standout that’s worth circling on your calendar. The rest of the time, the wind and swell just aren’t lining up.

The Overall Picture

We start off with a whole lot of nothing. From Sunday the 12th all the way through to the 17th, conditions are consistently poor. The swell is tiny, mostly between 1 ft and 2 ft, and the wind is either onshore or cross-onshore. The wave energy is weak (210) and the forecasts have it as marginal at best, but mostly just poor. You’d be fighting an onshore breeze for knee-high slop, and that’s not worth the wetsuit.

A slight bump shows up on Saturday the 18th of July with a bit more size, pushing 4 ft from the SSE, and the combined energy jumps up (879). But it’s a bit of a tease because the wind on Saturday morning is a light cross-onshore, and by the afternoon a moderate onshore breeze kicks up to 12 mph, making a mess of it. That’s the biggest we see for a while, but the quality just isn't there.

The trend continues through the third week. Days of small, onshore slop. The water temp anomaly is within the normal range for the time of year, nothing unusual there. There’s a long period of groundswell energy on Thursday the 24th of July with a period of 24 seconds and combined energy hitting 500. The catch is, for a beach/jetty setup like Ballona, a period that long tends to make waves break too straight and close out. It needs a point or a reef to really shine.

The Standout

If you are going to pick one time to go, it’s Friday morning, the 24th of July. The swell is small, only 2 ft from the SSW, but that long period, super clean groundswell is a beautiful thing. The key here is the wind: dead glassy, zero wind from the SE at just 3 mph. That is a gift. It’s going to be clean, lined up, and about as good as it gets for a small day at the Jetty. Expect very good conditions. Just remember, with that 24-second period, the sets will be spaced out, making it easier to get out the back, but it might close out on the inside sections. It’s an advanced spot anyway, so you know the drill. Don't expect any crowds though, as this is a spot that’s only sometimes busy.

Beyond the Standout

After that blissful Friday morning, we slide back into mediocrity. Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th of July see a slight size increase (2 ft to 3 ft) and the energy is strong (499-639), but the cross-onshore wind comes back in, spoiling the party. The morning of Monday the 27th is a last look, with 3 ft from the SSW and a light cross-onshore, but it’s still only a marginal call. Save your energy for that glassy Friday morning.

Rusty.

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