Doheney Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get real about Doheney Beach. It’s been a bit of a rough stretch, and honestly, it’s gonna take a while for things to fire up. The water is a warm 73° Fahrenheit, which is a lot warmer than usual for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a thick wetsuit.

The run from Tuesday the 15th right through the end of next week is looking pretty grim. For the next week and a half, wave heights are hovering around 2 to 3 feet, and while the period is long, mostly in the 15-20 second range, the energy is just not there. It’s mostly cross or onshore winds, which is making a mess of things. We've got some combined swell energy figures in the low-to-mid 300s early on, bumping up to the 400s and 500s, but it's not translating to anything you’d want to paddle out into. The days just blend together with small, weak waves and a cross-chop. There are a few mornings like the 16th and 17th with light winds, but the wave comment stays “poor surf conditions”.

There’s a real flat patch in there, too. From around the 25th to the 27th, the surf is really weak and period drops down to 12-13 seconds. It’s the kind of spell where you’re better off finding something else to do. I'm not gonna lie, there’s a couple of days where we see some energy, like the 20th and 21st, with combined energies pushing into the 600-700 range, but even then, the winds are on it, messing up any chance of a clean wave.

Now, here’s the light at the end of the tunnel. The first real, rideable surf shows up on Monday the 28th. The wind is gonna be a cross-offshore from the WNW, and the wave faces are going to clean right up. It’s not big, with waves around 2 feet, but it’ll have a clean face. The period will back off a touch to 13-14 seconds, but the quality will be a hundred times better. The morning of the 28th might be the pick of the bunch with that light breeze and clean conditions.

Then we get a bit of a size increase for the last day of the month, Wednesday the 30th, but it’s gonna be a trade-off. Swell height bumps to 4 feet, and the period drops to 15 seconds, but the direction swings more to the SSE. Combined energy jumps up to 848 and then 993. However, the wind will be cross, and the comment says it’s "marginal". That extra size will come with some bumpy, cross-shore lines. It’s a step in the right direction, but for a clean, easy day, you're better off sticking with the 28th and 29th. The 29th has the same clean conditions with the WNW wind, but a touch smaller. So, if you're looking for a wave, that window from Monday the 28th to Tuesday the 29th is your best bet. Don't hold your breath for much else.

Rusty

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