Huntington Cliffs Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, it’s Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the menu over the next couple of weeks for Huntington Cliffs. I gotta be straight with you – this is a tough outlook. We’re looking at a long stretch of small, messy conditions, and honestly, there isn't a single standout session in the whole 16-day window. The first real chance to even think about a paddle is Tuesday morning, August 18th.

Tuesday morning, August 18th, we’ve got a tiny 2ft swell pushing in from the SSW with a long 16-second period. The energy is weak, sitting at 309. The wind is light and offshore from the SW, which would usually be a major positive, but with a combined energy reading that low, it's really just a lot of waiting for a barely-rideable wave. The water temp is 70°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year. By Tuesday afternoon, the wind swings cross-on and the surf turns to junk – zero score material.

The story stays the same all week. Wednesday morning, August 19th, shows a similar 3ft SSW swell with offshore wind, but the conditions are still flagged as marginal. After that, it's a streak of poor or marginal calls right through to the end of the month. Nearly every afternoon gets ruined by a cross-on breeze, and the wave heights hover between 1ft and 3ft. The periods are long, sometimes 15 to 19 seconds, which means it’s mostly groundswell, but with that small size at a beach and reef setup like this, those long-period swells aren't going to shape up into much at all.

There are a couple of mornings with light offshore wind, like Sunday morning, August 23rd, and Monday morning, August 24th, but the swell is only 1ft to 2ft. The combined energy on the 23rd is 312, still weak. It’s the kind of stuff where you might get a knee-high wave if you're patient, but it’s not worth paddling out for. The pattern doesn't improve into the first week of September either – the biggest swell we see in the whole outlook is 3ft on the 30th and 31st, but the wind is cross or cross-on, killing any chance of clean waves. Even the last entry on Wednesday, September 2nd, shows a 2ft SSW swell with a period of 19 seconds and energy of 472 – but the wind is cross-on, so it’s a write-off.

Bottom line: there are no good surf options in the entire 16-day window. With Huntington Cliffs being fairly consistent on a normal year, this is a frustratingly blank run. Keep your eyes on the forecasts – it tends not to stay this poor for long.

Rusty.

Read more