Cape Mendocino Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Gather ‘round, folks. Rusty here. Let’s wade through the next couple of weeks for Cape Mendocino. It’s a bit of a rough patch, to be honest. We’ve got a lot of onshore wind and cross-chop eating up the energy for most of the run, but there’s one morning that’s worth setting the alarm for. The rest is a long, quiet stretch.

The water is running at 53°F at the start, which is a whopping 4°F colder than normal for this time of year – that’s a serious chill, so bring the thickest wetsuit you’ve got and maybe a hood.

For the first few days, from Sunday, August 2nd through Tuesday, August 5th, it’s pretty grim. The wind is howling out of the north at 25 mph, blowing straight across the swell. The waves are tiny, only 1 ft to 2 ft from the SW with a weak pulse of energy, and the surface is just a lumpy mess. There’s nothing to ride here, so save your energy.

Then, on Wednesday, August 5th, we get a short window of life. The morning brings a clean, glassy ocean with a swell from the NW at 6 ft, but it’s a short-period, windswell of only 8 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 583 (moderate), which is the biggest push we see. The wind is a whisper at 3 mph from the west, going glassy. This is your best shot. The swell is a bit too big for beginners, but the clean conditions will make it feel good for intermediate and advanced surfers. The afternoon sees the wind switch to a light cross-onshore, so the morning session is the real standout.

After that, from Thursday, August 6th, all the way through to Monday, August 17th, it’s a long, dry spell. The waves drop back to tiny 1.0 ft to 3 ft, and the wind remains a brutal cross-shore from the north or NNW, often at 15 to 22 mph, keeping the surface chopped and grovelly. The combined energy sometimes climbs into the 400s and 500s, but with that much wind and messy condition, it’s just a washing machine. There’s nothing to recommend for a paddle. Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, if you’re into that.

So, to wrap it up: the only true standout is the morning of Wednesday, August 5th. Get on it, because the rest of the forecast is a quiet, windy wait.

Rusty.

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