Surf Forecasts:
Indicator surf forecast from 5 Sep 2026:
- Best quality surf: Thursday 10 Sep, 2AM (local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 17s period, SW swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Thursday 10 Sep, 2AM (local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 17s period, SW swell with 235 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Wednesday 9 Sep, 5AM (local time) - 1.5ft (0.4m), 16s period with SW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Indicator this week:
The surf forecast for Indicator over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Sep 09) at 5AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.4m and 16s period. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Indicator in the next 16 days are 0.6m 17s and forecast to arrive on Thursday (Sep 10) at 2AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.2m 14s period and expected on Monday (Sep 07) at 2AM.
| Wave Type | Time (PDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 5AM (Wed 9th Sep) | 1.5ft (0.4m) 16s |
| Best Surf | 2AM (Thu 10th Sep) | 2ft (0.6m) 17s |
| Most Powerful | 2AM (Thu 10th Sep) | 2ft (0.6m) 17s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Indicator over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright folks, Rusty here. I’ve been staring at the charts for this spot, and I gotta be straight with you – it’s a tough stretch. We’re looking at a real long dry spell before anything even thinks about turning on.
Right off the bat, we’ve got nothing. Saturday the 5th through to the end of the first week is a total write-off. The swell energy is basically zero, maxing out at a measly 76 (combined energy), and the wind is mostly cross-onshore junk. It’s not even worth paddling out for a splash. The water is a balmy 72°, which is *much warmer than normal* for this time of year, but it’s not helping the waves. We’re looking at a solid 5-6 day gap with nothing to recommend.
Things start to look a little less hopeless around Thursday the 10th. We get a tiny bump of energy, but the wind is still junk. It’s not until Friday the 11th that we see our first real chance. The morning session on Friday the 11th is the standout. We’ve got some clean conditions with a light offshore breeze from the SSE, and a waist-high swell of 4 ft from the WSW. The period is short at 7 seconds, so it’ll be a bit lumpy and close-together, but it’s the first clean surf we’ve seen. The combined energy is moderate at 162. This is your best bet for the whole outlook, but keep expectations in check – it’s not going to be epic.
From there, the rest of the window is a bit of a tease. Saturday the 12th morning offers some clean, surfable waves with a tiny 3 ft from the west, but it’s weak. After that, almost every afternoon is ruined by that cross-onshore wind. The second week looks slightly better for consistency, but it’s always on the small side, mostly 1 ft to 2 ft. The long-period swells (15-22 seconds) starting to show up on the 17th and 18th sound promising, but with that tiny size, they’ll be hard to link up. The cleanest windows will be the mornings of Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th, with a light offshore breeze, but it’s ankle-to-knee high stuff.
Honestly, for the whole 16 days, the morning of Friday the 11th is the only one I’d really mark on the calendar. It’s not classic, but it’s the cleanest little window we’ve got.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 3mm), mostly falling on Sun morning. Warm (max 24°C on Mon morning, min 19°C on Sun morning). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummarySome drizzle, heaviest during Tue morning. Warm (max 28°C on Tue night, min 22°C on Thu night). Mainly fresh winds. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday 5 | Sunday 6 | Monday 7 | Tuesday 8 | Wednesday 9 | Thursday 10 | Friday 11 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 16 | SW 12 | SW 11 | SW 10 | SW 11 | W 10 | W 5 | SW 19 | W 10 | SW 18 | SW 18 | W 5 | SSW 10 | SW 12 | SW 17 | SW 12 | SW 10 | WSW 8 | WSW 7 | SW 15 | SW 15 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 0 | 48 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 31 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 49 | 49 | 11 | 0 | 52 | 235 | 232 | 200 | 149 | 135 | 176 | 171 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | on | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | cross-on | cross-on | off | off | cross-on | glassy |
High Tide | 4:52PM2.05m | 7:50AM1.50m | 6:07PM2.15m | 8:18AM1.63m | 7:07PM2.25m | 8:46AM1.75m | 7:58PM2.29m | 9:14AM1.86m | 8:45PM2.27m | 9:42AM1.96m | 9:29PM2.19m | 10:10AM2.04m | 10:13PM2.04m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 10:06AM1.32m | 00:47AM0.29m | 11:54AM1.24m | 1:35AM0.17m | 1:01PM1.09m | 2:15AM0.11m | 1:54PM0.92m | 2:51AM0.11m | 2:41PM0.76m | 3:24AM0.17m | 3:26PM0.63m | 3:55AM0.29m | 4:10PM0.54m | 4:24AM0.45m | |||||||
 | |  |  |  |  | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | 6:28 | — | — | 6:30 | — | — | 6:31 | — | — | 6:31 | — | — | 6:31 | — | — | 6:33 | — | — | 6:33 | — | — |
 | — | 7:14 | — | — | 7:13 | — | — | 7:10 | — | — | 7:09 | — | — | 7:07 | — | — | 7:07 | — | — | 7:06 | — |
mm | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 21 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 22 |
Feels °C | 22 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 26 | 27 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 21 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 16 | SSE 14 | S 13 | S 14 | S 14 | SSW 14 | S 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 11 | SSW 10 | SSW 10 | SW 11 | SW 12 | SW 10 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 15 | SW 15 |
| kJ | 425 | 250 | 222 | 476 | 508 | 571 | 506 | 411 | 420 | 424 | 350 | 221 | 149 | 109 | 163 | 232 | 200 | 251 | 245 | 176 | 171 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSE 13 | SSW 16 | SSW 16 | W 5 | SW 11 | SSW 15 | SSW 19 | SW 19 | SSW 18 | SW 18 | SW 18 | W 5 | SW 19 | SSW 17 | SW 17 | SW 17 | SW 16 | SSW 11 | SSW 10 | W 17 | WSW 16 |
| kJ | 133 | 277 | 280 | 4 | 18 | 318 | 36 | 14 | 31 | 49 | 49 | 11 | 94 | 184 | 235 | 291 | 264 | 22 | 10 | 24 | 48 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSE 15 | SW 12 | SW 11 | SW 10 | SW 20 | WSW 10 | SW 9 | W 11 | W 10 | SW 21 | SW 22 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 12 | S 12 | SSW 12 | SSW 12 | WSW 11 | W 18 | S 10 | S 10 |
| kJ | 44 | 48 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 18 | 68 | 65 | 52 | 11 | 28 | 27 | 12 | 27 | 8 | 8 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | W 4 | W 3 | — | W 5 | W 10 | W 5 | W 3 | W 4 | W 4 | W 4 | — | — | — | W 5 | — | W 4 | WSW 8 | WSW 7 | W 6 | W 6 |
| kJ | — | 3 | 3 | — | 5 | 31 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 9 | — | — | — | 2 | — | 13 | 149 | 135 | 135 | 69 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 2 | 62 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 62 | 6 | 6 | 166 | 7 | 2 | 41 | 0 | 62 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Los Angeles County | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Indicator surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Indicator Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Indicator provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Indicator can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Indicator surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Indicator) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Indicator may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Indicator is 5 km (3 miles) from the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. If you plan a vacation in Los Angeles County, look for hotels and other accommodation in Rancho Palos Verdes. Rancho Palos Verdes has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
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