Californias Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on offer for Californias over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, looking at the whole run, it's a pretty grim stretch for us. The swell is tiny and the wind is messy for most of it. We're looking at a long, dry spell with basically nothing to get excited about until the very end of the forecast period. The first real chance of a wave doesn't come up until the first of August, over a week and a half away.

The water is sitting at 83°F right now, which is about 1°F cooler than usual for this time of year – nothing to write home about, just average warmth.

The first few days are a write-off. Monday the 20th through to the end of July is all tiny, weak swell with poor surf conditions. The wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, sometimes gusting up to 19 mph with a risk of thunderstorms. The combined energy is almost non-existent, with values like 41 and 38 in the early days, dropping to single digits or zero by the end of the month. You're looking at waves of 0.3 ft to 2 ft, and honestly, the setup looks far more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing with that consistent breeze.

The only flicker of hope comes much later, on the morning of Saturday, the 1st of August. We get a pulse of 2 ft swell from the west, with a period of 11 seconds and a combined energy of 126 (moderate). That's not huge, but it's the biggest energy we see. The wind is offshore from the ENE at 6 mph, so the waves should be clean. But it's a very short-lived window, and the score is still low. It's a long way out, so treat it as a promising but less certain late call, but it's the only thing on the menu.

After that, it's back to tiny, weak swells and stronger cross-offshore winds, with nothing else to recommend.

So, the standout, if you can call it that, is the morning of Saturday the 1st of August at Californias. It's a reef break, fairly consistent, but it's an advanced wave. With the swell coming from the west at 2 ft, and clean offshore wind, it might just offer a few fun ones for the crew who know the line-up. Don't expect much, and expect crowds because it's a spot that's often busy.

Rusty.

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