Depressions Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, gather ‘round. It’s your main man Rusty here, and I’ve gotta be straight with you – the outlook for Depressions over the next couple of weeks is not going to get the heart pumping. We’re looking at a long, drawn-out run of mostly poor conditions, with just a few flickers of something rideable.

Let’s start with the big picture. The water temp at Depressions is sitting at 64°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – nice for the skin, but it won’t help the waves any. The first real chance of anything decent doesn’t roll in until Friday the 10th of July. That’s a solid six days of grim conditions before we even get a look-in.

From Sunday the 5th right through to Thursday the 9th, it’s a write-off. You’ve got a mix of onshore and cross-onshore winds, mostly light to moderate, and the swell is a messy combination of weak, long-period south-southwest groundswell. The wave energy sits between 255 and 654 (moderate energy), but it’s all getting chopped up and disorganized. The wave comment says it all: “poor surf conditions.” Don’t bother paddling out.

Now, Friday the 10th of July is where we get a bit of light. Both the morning and afternoon sessions at Depressions show some hope. The morning brings a 3 ft swell from the west-northwest at a workable 9 seconds, with the wind switching to a glassy south at 3 mph. Clean, smooth, offshore-like glass. The wave energy is 334 (moderate). The afternoon sees the swell drop to 2 ft from the south-southwest, but the period stretches out to a very long 15 seconds – that’s proper groundswell energy, though it might break a bit too straight at a beach break. Still, with glassy conditions and only 301 (moderate) energy, you could get some clean, lined-up waves if you pick the right bank. This is the standout of the whole forecast, but keep in mind it’s small and long-period, so it’ll be a challenge for the beginners.

Saturday the 11th is a step back – cross-offshore wind from the east-southeast gives clean faces, but the swell is tiny at 2 ft and the energy drops to 188 (weak). Probably not worth the drive unless you’re desperate.

After that, we limp through the second week. Sunday the 12th has a glassy, slight air 2 ft swell, but the wave energy is 209 (weak) and it’s described as “surfable but very ordinary.” Then from Monday the 13th onward, it’s back to cross-onshore winds and marginal or poor conditions. The combined wave energy values hover between 252 and 466 (moderate), but the wind and inconsistent swell patterns ruin it. There’s a long-period 21-second swell on Thursday the 16th of July morning, but at only 1 ft with onshore wind, it’s more of a ripple than a wave.

Basically, if you’re a beginner, Friday the 10th afternoon’s 2 ft swell is your only shot – any bigger stuff like the 5 ft on Wednesday the 8th afternoon comes with terrible 7-second windswell and cross-onshore wind (568 energy – moderate, but rubbish). Anything over 5 ft at Depressions is more of a challenge, and over 8 ft would be expert-only, but we never get there in this window.

Crowds at Depressions can pop up sometimes, so on that Friday the 10th, you might have a few others with the same idea.

So, my honest tip: keep the board in the car and the wax dry until Friday the 10th of July. That’s your best and only real bet in this whole 16-day stretch. Otherwise, it’s a lot of sitting on the beach watching the chop.

Rusty.

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