Depressions Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the next couple of weeks for Depressions. Honestly, I’ve gotta say it straight up – it’s a tough run. There’s really nothing that jumps out as a proper session to get excited about. The whole 16-day window is a real grind, with mostly marginal or poor conditions. It’s one of those stretches where you’re better off keeping the board in the car and just checking the ocean from the cliffs.

The first real chance we get is on the morning of Sunday, July 20th, but even then it’s touch and go. The water is sitting at 67°F – that’s a full 5°F warmer than usual for this time of year, so it’s feeling like a bathtub. The swell is a tiny 3 ft from the South with an 11-second period, but the wind is straight onshore from the SSW at 6 mph, killing any chance of it being clean. It’s a beginner-friendly size, but the quality just isn’t there.

The pattern doesn’t improve much. We see a little bump in energy mid-week, but it’s always accompanied by cross-onshore winds. The swell direction shifts around from SW to SSE, but the period stays short to middling – mostly between 13 and 15 seconds. The combined energy values are moderate, sitting between 287 and 544, but it’s all wasted on messy surfaces.

There’s a bit of a tease on the morning of Saturday, July 28th, with a clean 5 ft swell from the WNW, but at 9 seconds it’s short-period, and it’s still a marginal call. On the 29th, the swell gets a bit more push from the WNW at 4 ft, but the wind goes cross-shore from the SE, which just isn’t what we need here.

The absolute best of a bad bunch is probably the morning of Monday, July 27th. We’ve got 3 ft from the SSW with a 18-second period – that’s a proper long-period groundswell. The combined energy is a solid 781, and with light offshore winds from the SW at 6 mph, the surface could be glassy. The catch? It’s still scored as marginal, and the swell direction is off the optimum WSW. It’s a gamble, but if you’re desperate and the tide lines up, it might offer a few clean, peeling waves for a beginner.

After that, the second week is properly bleak. The swell drops off, the periods get short, and the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore. The combined energy slips into the low 200s, which is weak. The morning of Saturday, August 1st, shows a 4 ft S swell, but the wind is cross-onshore from the W, so it’s just a choppy mess.

To be honest, if you’re a paddle surfer, this is a write-off. The combination of small swell, constant onshore or cross-onshore wind, and fair-to-poor surf quality means there’s really no standout session. It’s the kind of run that’s more interesting for a kite surfer if the wind is strong enough. For the rest of us, it’s a waiting game.

Stay patient, keep an eye on the charts, but don’t hold your breath.

Rusty.

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