Surf Forecasts:
Depressions surf forecast from 19 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Wednesday 19 Aug, 5AM (local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 15s period, SSW swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 19 Aug, 2PM (local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 16s period, SSW swell with 191 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Wednesday 19 Aug, 5AM (local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 15s period with SSW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Depressions this week:
The surf forecast for Depressions over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Aug 19) at 5AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.6m and 15s period with a secondary swell of 1.0m and 7s. Another secondary swell of 1.1m and 6s is also forecast. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Depressions in the next 16 days are 0.6m 16s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Aug 19) at 2PM. Winds are predicted to be onshore at the time the swell arrives.
| Wave Type | Time (PDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 5AM (Wed 19th Aug) | 2ft (0.6m) 15s |
| Best Surf | 5AM (Wed 19th Aug) | 2ft (0.6m) 15s |
| Most Powerful | 2PM (Wed 19th Aug) | 2ft (0.6m) 16s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Depressions over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's be straight up about it – we're looking at a pretty grim stretch ahead at Depressions. There's no good surf on the table for the entire 16-day outlook, so don't get your hopes up. The data's all showing the same story: poor surf conditions from start to finish, with nothing reaching a score that'd get me out of bed.
Right now, into Tuesday the 18th of August, we've got tiny 1ft to 2ft S and SSW swells with a long period of 16 seconds, but it's all cross-on with a light breeze, not doing us any favours. That weak wave energy is sitting around 246 to 285. The water's a balmy 70° which is *much warmer than normal* for this time of year – over three degrees above average – so that's a weird novelty, but it won't help the surf.
The whole first week just keeps serving up the same: tiny waist-high or smaller waves (1ft to 2ft), mostly from the SSW or swinging around to the WNW by Saturday the 22nd. Winds are light and mostly onshore or cross-on, keeping things messy. Even when we see a longer-period groundswell, like that 19-second SSW pulse on Sunday the 23rd, it's only 1ft. The wave energy is weak to moderate at best, hitting between 140 and 296.
Then we hit a bit of a bump on Monday the 24th of August – the swell picks up to 5ft from the WNW, but it's a junky 6-second period with a gentle cross-onshore breeze, making it choppy. That's not surfable, that's a washing machine. Gets a little bigger again on Tuesday the 25th and Tuesday the 1st of September, with 5ft to 5ft WNW windswell, but the period is still short (5 to 6 seconds) and the wind gets up to a moderate 12 to 16 mph cross-onshore. That setup would be more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing at a beach setup like this.
We do see the combined energy climb into the moderate to strong range later on – like 474 on Sunday the 30th of August – but that's attached to a weak 3ft SSW swell with a cross-on breeze. All energy, no wave. The last few days into early September are more of the same: small, poorly directed, and blown out.
Honestly, this is a blank run that's pretty normal for the area. Forecasts can change, but right now there's nothing to recommend. I wouldn't waste the petrol.
- Rusty
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Warm (max 30°C on Wed afternoon, min 22°C on Thu night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Warm (max 30°C on Sat afternoon, min 23°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light. | |||||||||||||||||||
Tue 18 | Wednesday 19 | Thursday 20 | Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | Sunday 23 | Monday 24 | ||||||||||||||
PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 16 | WNW 6 | SSW 15 | SSW 16 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | WNW 6 | WNW 8 | WNW 7 | SSW 15 | SW 19 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 17 | SW 17 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 153 | 120 | 186 | 164 | 110 | 118 | 120 | 79 | 59 | 58 | 69 | 56 | 69 | 71 | 89 | 79 | 112 | 109 | 98 | 135 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | cross | on | cross-on | cross-off | on | cross-on | cross-off | on | on | glassy | on | cross-on | glassy | on | cross-on | glassy | on | cross-on | cross |
High Tide | 2:22PM1.84m | 4:21AM1.20m | 3:14PM1.80m | 4:21PM1.79m | 8:37AM1.33m | 5:31PM1.81m | 8:55AM1.39m | 6:29PM1.88m | 9:13AM1.44m | 7:17PM1.97m | 9:31AM1.49m | 7:57PM2.04m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 10:00PM0.75m | 7:51AM1.12m | 11:30PM0.69m | 00:43AM0.59m | 10:39AM1.31m | 1:34AM0.49m | 12:14PM1.30m | 2:13AM0.40m | 1:10PM1.24m | 2:46AM0.33m | 1:52PM1.16m | 3:15AM0.27m | ||||||||
 |  | | | | |  | | | | | | |  | | | | | | | |
 | — | — | 6:22 | — | — | 6:22 | — | — | 6:24 | — | — | 6:24 | — | — | 6:24 | — | — | 6:26 | — | — |
 | 7:43 | — | — | 7:42 | — | — | 7:40 | — | — | 7:39 | — | — | 7:37 | — | — | 7:37 | — | — | 7:36 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 29 | 25 | 29 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 26 |
Feels °C | 29 | 24 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 23 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 16 | SSW 14 | WNW 8 | SSW 16 | WNW 5 | WNW 8 | W 7 | WNW 6 | WNW 7 | SSW 13 | WNW 6 | WNW 7 | WNW 9 | W 5 | W 10 | WNW 9 | SW 18 | WNW 5 | SW 17 | SW 17 |
| kJ | 153 | 120 | 75 | 164 | 50 | 58 | 40 | 45 | 38 | 58 | 69 | 55 | 26 | 23 | 67 | 32 | 112 | 26 | 98 | 135 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 13 | NW 15 | SSW 15 | S 16 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 9 | SSW 14 | WNW 7 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 14 | SW 18 | SSW 12 | S 13 |
| kJ | 44 | 9 | 186 | 43 | 110 | 118 | 120 | 79 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 29 | 41 | 37 | 33 | 57 | 65 | 109 | 29 | 55 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 9 | SW 19 | WNW 14 | WNW 14 | WNW 12 | WNW 13 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | WNW 11 | WSW 18 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 15 | SW 19 | SW 18 | S 15 | S 14 | S 14 | SSE 10 |
| kJ | 2 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 31 | 31 | 46 | 46 | 40 | 30 | 57 | 56 | 14 | 71 | 89 | 79 | 38 | 37 | 36 | 10 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 5 | WNW 6 | — | WNW 7 | — | — | WNW 2 | — | — | WNW 7 | — | WNW 8 | WNW 7 | WNW 5 | WNW 7 | W 5 | WNW 5 | WNW 5 | WNW 5 | WNW 5 |
| kJ | 62 | 94 | — | 65 | — | — | 1 | — | — | 47 | — | 50 | 69 | 48 | 29 | 21 | 42 | 32 | 69 | 74 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 1 | 0 | 149 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Santa Barbara | ||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | ||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Depressions surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Depressions Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Depressions provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Depressions can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Depressions surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Depressions) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Depressions may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Depressions is 1 km (1 miles) from Isla Vista. If you plan a vacation in Santa Barbara, look for hotels and other accommodation in Isla Vista. Isla Vista has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest