Californias Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Well, folks, it's Rusty here, and I gotta be straight with you—this stretch for Californias is a real mixed bag of mostly nothing with a couple of wild cards. Let's break it down.

We're looking at a long, dry spell right off the bat. From Friday, the 21st of August, right through to Monday the 24th, it's a total write-off. Tiny waves, if any, with lumpy cross-shore winds and even some thunderstorms lurking. The water temp is sitting at a pretty typical 84°F, so nothing unusual there for this time of year.

Things finally get a pulse on Tuesday morning, the 25th of August. That's your standout window. We've got a solid 8 ft swell rolling in from the east, with a long period of 17 seconds—that's proper groundswell energy. The combined energy is a massive 4172, so there's plenty of grunt behind it. The wind is offshore from the northeast at 12 mph, so the lineup should be clean. But listen, this is a reef break for advanced surfers only, and 8 ft with that long period will be powerful and heavy. It's not for the faint-hearted. The afternoon sees a cross-off breeze and the swell holds, but the score drops a bit.

Now, Wednesday the 26th turns ugly. The swell jumps to 12 ft to 13 ft, but it's from the northwest and west-northwest with onshore winds. That's a messy, blown-out, choppy mess. The energy is still high, but the quality is gone. Thursday and Friday get hammered by strong westerly winds, with Friday the 28th seeing a near gale at 34-37 mph. That's kite-surfing territory, not paddle surfing.

Things settle down from the 30th of August, but the swell fades away completely. We get clean conditions with light cross-off winds, but the waves are tiny—2 ft to 3 ft at best. There's a little bump on the 4th and 5th of September with a 3 ft east swell, 14-16 second period, and glassy conditions on the Saturday morning. It's clean and fun-sized, but it's not going to set the world on fire. The energy is moderate at best.

So, the real standout is Tuesday morning, the 25th of August. If you're an experienced surfer and you can handle a heavy, long-period east swell, that's your window. The rest is either flat, blown out, or too small to get excited about. Keep an eye on that long-range glassy morning on the 5th of September—it might be a sneaky one for a longboard.

Stay patient, and don't get too excited about the forecasts too far out. Things can change.

Rusty.

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