Crouching Lion Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the table for Crouching Lion over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, it’s a rough start. For the first week and a half, we’re looking at a lot of poor surf conditions. The wind is hammering us from the ENE pretty much non-stop, mostly a cross-on breeze, and it’s creating choppy, lumpy, messy surf. The swell coming in is mostly short-period windswell, between 6 and 9 seconds, and while there’s moderate wave energy (values between 222 and 567), it’s just not clean. You’ll see waves in the 5 ft to 7 ft range, but with that wind on it, it’s a battle. Not worth paddling out for.

That run of poor conditions stretches from August 28th all the way through to September 5th. Then things start to shift, but only a little. From September 6th to the 10th, the forecast slips into “marginal” territory. The wind starts to ease, especially on the 7th morning when we get a brief window of offshore wind from the NNE, light at 6 mph. That’s a glimmer. The swell stays around 5 ft to 6 ft, still from the ENE, but the lighter wind makes it less of a mess. Still, the combined energy is moderate, so don’t expect perfection.

Now, here’s the real standout, and it’s a long-range promise. On September 10th, the afternoon session sees the swell jump up to 8 ft from the NE with a 10-second period, and the combined energy rockets to 1012. That’s strong wave energy, and the wind goes light offshore from the NE. That’s the cleanest window in the whole run. Then on September 11th, the morning pushes even bigger: 10 ft from the ENE, 9-second period, and the combined energy hits 1382. The wind is light and cross-shore. This is big, powerful surf. For Crouching Lion, a point break exposed to the NE, this is the one to circle on the calendar. It’s expert territory at that size, and with crowds being only “sometimes” an issue, you might get a few clean ones to yourself if you’re out early.

Crouching Lion is inconsistent, so when it fires, it’s special. The water temp anomaly doesn’t show any extreme deviation, so the water is about what you’d expect for this time of year. The optimum swell direction for this break is NE, and that’s exactly what we get on those standout days.

So, in short: suffer through the first week and a bit of chop, then keep an eye on the 10th afternoon and the 11th morning. That’s where the magic is, but remember, it’s a long way out so treat it as promising but not locked in.

Rusty.

Read more