Huntington Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming up for our local stretch.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – the next week and a half is looking pretty grim. We’ve got a real flat spell on the way. From Tuesday afternoon the 21st right through to the end of the month, we’re stuck with weak, short-period, onshore slop. The water is sitting at 70°F with a water temperature anomaly of 4°F – that’s much warmer than normal for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a thick wetsuit, but the waves are a different story.

The best we can say for the first week is that it’s "marginal" at best. Winds are cross-on or onshore, mostly from the WSW or S, chopping everything up. The combined swell energy is only moderate, and the swell heights are tiny – 2ft to 3ft. The period is all over the place, but mostly short. There’s no standout here, no day to circle on the calendar. Honestly, it’s a total write-off for paddle surfing. The break is a beach setup, so with the onshore wind and weak swell, it’s more interesting for kite surfing than anything else through this whole period.

Now, there is a little glimmer of hope. On Friday the 31st of July, we finally see a pulse of energy. Swell jumps up to 5ft from the SSE, with a period of 16 seconds. That’s a proper groundswell, and the combined energy spikes to a strong level. The wind is offshore (on) from the WSW in the morning, with a light breeze. This is the best looking slot in the whole 16-day window. The swell is over 5ft, so it’s a bit much for beginners, but it’s not huge. The long period (16 seconds) will give it some real shape, but at a beach break like Huntington, those long-period swells can sometimes be a bit too straight and wonky. Still, with clean offshore wind, it’s your best shot. Saturday the 1st of August is still workable, but dropping to 5ft from the S, with a shorter period of 12 seconds.

After that, it’s back to the flatness. The first week of August is tiny – 1ft to 3ft – with weak energy and onshore wind. There’s a long gap of about 5 days with no real recommendation.

So, bottom line: the true standout is the morning of Friday the 31st of July. Get on it, because it’s a long wait for the next one.

Rusty.

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