Emery s Left Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, crew, Rusty here with the straight talk on Emery's Left for the next couple of weeks.

Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: this forecast is a tough one. This reef is usually very consistent, but we're staring down a long stretch of poor to marginal conditions. There’s no single, clear standout, but the back end of the forecast has a little bit of promise if you’re patient.

The water temp is a nice 72°, running a touch warmer than normal for this time of year.

We start on Tuesday, September 8th, but forget it. Rain showers and a 9 mph cross-onshore from the NW have the surface all chopped up. The swell is a weak 3ft from the SSW at 10 seconds, with moderate energy readings. Tuesday afternoon is the same story. Wednesday the 9th turns glassy with offshore wind, but the swell drops to a tiny 2ft. It’s there, but it’s not worth paddling out for.

This pattern of light wind and small, weak swell just drags on for days. The energy readings are all in a moderate-low range. We get some long periods – up to 16 seconds – which is usually a dream for a reef, but there’s just no size to back it up. On Sunday the 13th, a short-period, 8-second W swell comes in at 4ft, but the wind is a messy cross-shore at 12 mph. Not good. The "poor surf conditions" label is a constant throughout the first week. We see a bump to 4ft on Monday the 14th, but it’s with a 9 mph onshore wind.

Now, for the only real highlight of the whole outlook. From Saturday, September 19th, through to Tuesday, September 22nd, things start to get interesting. The swell size holds steady at 3ft to 3ft from the SW, but the period gets beautiful, hitting 19 seconds. This is proper, long-period groundswell. The wind turns very light, mostly offshore or light cross-onshore at 6 mph. The combined energy on Sunday the 20th morning hits its highest point of the entire forecast. For this west-facing reef, that clean, long-period energy with light wind is exactly what you want to see, even if it's not a big swell. Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd also show similar, slightly improved conditions.

The Pick: If you're holding out for a session, make it Monday, September 21st or Tuesday, September 22nd. You're looking at 3ft of clean, long-period SW groundswell, with light offshore winds. It won't be pumping, but it should be cleaner than anything else in this window. Expect a crowd, because Emery's Left is always busy.

Things look like they’ll fade back into the marginal zone after that.

So, mark your calendar for the 21st and 22nd of September. It’s the only real shot at a clean wave in this forecast.

Rusty.

Read more