Cape Mendocino Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what Cape Mendocino has in store for us over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, the start of this outlook is a bit of a slow grind. There’s a pretty big gap of days with nothing really worth paddling out for. We’re looking at from Friday the 28th of August all the way through until the end of the month, and even into the first few days of September, it’s mainly cross-shore winds and messy conditions. The swell is small, mostly around 2ft to 4ft, and the energy is weak to moderate, with combined energy readings mostly in the 500-900 range. The wind is relentless, and the water is sitting at 55° – a bit colder than normal for this time of year, so you’ll be wanting that extra rubber.

We get a little flicker of something on Monday the 31st of August with a light breeze and a 3ft cross-on swell, but it’s still marginal. Tuesday the 1st of September is similar. It’s not until Wednesday the 2nd that things feel a bit off again, with small swell and poor conditions.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. The real standout, and the only one worth getting excited about, is Thursday the 3rd of September. We’ve got a solid pulse of swell coming in from the NW, pushing 7ft in the morning and bumping up to 8ft in the afternoon. This is backed by strong energy – the combined energy reading jumps to 1793 in the morning and a whopping 2482 in the afternoon. That’s moderate to strong wave energy. The period is 11 to 12 seconds, so it’s a proper groundswell. This is big, powerful stuff. For a spot like Cape Mendocino, which is an exposed break, this will be handling the full force. But heads up – with waves over 8ft, this is strictly for experienced surfers only. The wind is cross-shore from the N at 12 mph, which will keep it from being glassy, but it’s not trashed. The swell direction is NW, which is close to the optimum SW direction the spot likes, so it should wrap in reasonably well.

Friday the 4th of September still has some size, with 8ft to 7ft swells from the NW, but the wind is cross-on and the energy is dropping. It’s a solid option, but not the standout.

After that, we drop back down into the 3ft range over the weekend of the 5th and 6th of September, with cross-shore winds and marginal conditions. The energy is moderate. The rest of the second week, from the 7th of September onward, is a real letdown. The swell drops to 2ft-3ft, the wind picks up again, and the energy stays weak. There’s just nothing to get excited about.

So, to wrap it up: the first week is a write-off until Thursday the 3rd of September. That’s your one and only true standout – a big, powerful NW groundswell for the experts. The rest of the period is pretty lackluster. If you’re a beginner, you’re better off waiting for a different window.

Rusty.

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