Crystals Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, taking a look at what we've got for the local stretch.

Honestly, the outlook for the next couple of weeks is a real struggle. We're looking at a long, drawn-out period of tiny, weak swell and mostly poor conditions. The first week and a half are slim pickings, and it doesn't get much better after that.

The only spot on the radar is Crystals, a beach and jetty setup that's "fairly consistent," but it's going to need a lot more than what's on offer.

We kick off on Thursday, July 2nd. The water is 72°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year. But the waves are a measly 1ft from the ESE with a 9-second period. The combined energy is weak at 32. The wind is cross-off, but it's not doing anything for such tiny surf.

This flat spell digs in hard. Through Friday the 3rd and Saturday the 4th, we're stuck with the same knee-high slop. Friday morning does have a beautiful glassy window, but again, there's just no energy to work with at 1ft. The overall wave energy stays weak, dropping as low as 21.

Sunday the 5th and Monday the 6th get worse. The wind swings onshore from the E, making a mess of the already poor 1ft surf. We see some light rain and even a risk of thunderstorms. It's not worth paddling out.

Finally, on Tuesday the 7th, we see a bump. The swell pushes up to 3ft from the ESE, but the period is a terrible 5 seconds – that's just wind chop. The combined energy is still only 73, very weak. The morning has a clean cross-off wind, but the wave comment calls it "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions." It's the best of a bad bunch, but that's not saying much. The afternoon gets a cross-on wind, making it a washout.

The rest of that week and the following week is a heartbreaking tale. Wednesday the 8th has a bit more energy hitting 118 (moderate) with a 4ft swell, but it's plagued by a strong cross-onshore wind that chops everything up. After that, the swell fades back to 2ft, then 0.7ft, and by the second week we're seeing 0.3ft dribble with a rare long-period 15-second swell on Friday the 17th that has no power to break. Onshore winds are a recurring problem.

If you had asked me about kite surfing on some of those days with a bit more wind and choppy water, I'd have had more to say. But for a paddle surfer, this is a brutal stretch. It’s a classic run of small summer conditions, and we just have to wait for the next real swell to show up.

Rusty.

Read more