Emma Wood State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, it's Rusty here. Let me level with you. For this corner of the coast, we are looking at a long, quiet stretch. The pickings are slim for the next 16 days, and honestly, for the first week or so, you might be better off cleaning the wax off your board or just enjoying the beach.

We've got one spot on the radar, Emma Wood State Beach, and it's a beginner-friendly beach and reef setup. The water temperature is sitting at 70° — that's a massive 6° warmer than usual for this time of year, so you won't need the thickest wetsuit, which is a rare win. But the surf quality? It's a tough watch. The first solid stretch starts Sunday, September 6, but the waves are poor. We see a small 3ft swell from the south with a 13-second period. The combined energy is moderate at best (392), but with a light cross-onshore breeze from the south at 6 mph, it's just messy and small. The rating is a zero.

This pattern pretty much holds through the first week. Mornings often have a light wind, which is a small positive, but the swell is tiny—hovering between 1.0ft and 3ft—and the direction is all over the shop, mostly from the SSW or SW. The period is decent enough on a few days, up to 19 seconds on Wednesday September 9, but with a swell height of just 1ft, it's not really doing anything. The comments are clear: "poor surf conditions" or "marginal" time and again. A lot of afternoons get chopped up by a moderate westerly breeze hitting 12 mph, making it even less appealing. You don't need a tide chart to know this isn't going to work.

There is a bit of a weird spike on Saturday, September 12, in the afternoon. The swell suddenly jumps to 6ft from the WNW, but the period is a pathetic 6 seconds (windswell) and the energy is 434. For a beach and reef break, that short-period, lumpy swell with onshore wind is going to be a washing machine. It might look more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. That one gets a zero rating too, for good reason.

After that, the second week offers no real hope. From Sunday, September 13, all the way through to Monday, September 21, the swell drops back down to tiny 1.0ft to 2ft waves. The periods are long (15-20 seconds), which is a tease, but without the height, it's flat. The combined energy is generally weak, under 200, and the wind is mostly a light cross-onshore or onshore breeze.

There is nothing to highlight as a standout here. No good surf on offer in this 16-day window. For an area that is "fairly consistent," a run this blank is a bit of a bummer, but it happens. Forecasts can change, but right now, I wouldn't be setting the alarm.

Rusty.

Read more