Cape Mendocino Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cookin' at Cape Mendocino over the next couple of weeks. Gotta be straight with you, it's a tough run. The first few days are a write-off, and the good stuff is scarce. We're talking about a long stretch of cross-shore wind and choppy, bumpy conditions that just won't let up.

The first real chance to even think about paddling out comes on Monday, July 20th. The morning starts glassy with a light WNW breeze at 3.1 mph, and the water's glassy. That's a huge plus. The swell is a small 2.3 ft from the SW with a nice long 16-second period, so there's some real energy in the water (421). The afternoon cleans up a bit more, going cross-offshore with the same light breeze, and the swell nudges up to 3.0 ft (837). It's not big, but it's clean. This is your best bet in the whole window for a proper, clean surf. The water temp is a freezing 50.7°F which is a full 5.4°F colder than normal for this time of year, so you're gonna need a thick suit and booties. It's a shame the crowds are "sometimes" around, but for waves this small, they'll be manageable.

Tuesday, July 21st, is a bit of a letdown after that. Wind stays light from the N at 3.1-6.2 mph, but it's cross-shore, and the swell shifts to a weaker S groundswell around 3.9 ft (746). It's marginal, with a bit of a cross-chop developing. It's surfable, but nowhere near as good as Monday.

Then we hit a wall. From Wednesday, July 22nd, right through to the end of the month, the story is the same: fresh, strong winds from the N or NNW, pumping at 15.5-18.6 mph, creating a lumpy, messy cross-chop. The swell gets bigger, with a big S pulse on the 25th and 26th hitting 3.9 ft from the SSW with a very long 21-second period, and combined energy up in the 1500s (1721 on the 25th afternoon). That's plenty of power, but with that wind, it's gonna be a washing machine. That 6.9 ft NW windswell on Sunday the 19th? That's a short period (8 seconds) and cross-shore breeze, so it'll be a bumpy, close-out mess. For a spot like this, with that strong cross-shore wind and big swell, honestly, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The last few days of July and into August the swell fades right down to 2.0 ft, and the wind stays strong and cross-shore, so it's a full-blown flat spell. It's a rough outlook, but the glassy Monday morning on the 20th is the one to circle. Promise that.

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