Isla Vista Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break this down.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – it’s pretty flat out there for the most part. There’s a little bump of energy coming through on that Sunday (the 13th), but it comes with some trade-offs, and after that, it’s a long, drawn-out grind of small, weak surf right through to the end of the month. We’re talking about a gap of several days with nothing really worth paddling out for from the middle of next week onwards.

Let’s start with that initial pulse. Sunday the 13th morning at Isla Vista (beach and reef), we’ve got a WNW swell pushing in at 3ft with a period of 9 seconds. The combined energy is moderate, reading 278. It’s not huge, but it’s something. The water is sitting at 71°F, which is *much* warmer than normal for this time of year – that anomaly of 8°F is very unusual, so you won’t need a thick wetsuit. The wind is light and variable, basically onshore, so it’ll be a bit lumpy. The tide could be a factor here, too, making it a bit marginal. It’s a fairly consistent break that’s fairly exposed to the swell, and it can get crowded often, especially on a Sunday with a ripple of energy. But for the morning, it’s the only game in town.

By Sunday afternoon, the swell pushes up to 7ft, but the period crashes to 6 seconds – that’s short-period, weak windswell. The wind turns cross-onshore and choppy (12 mph), and the combined energy jumps to 465. That’s moderate energy, but with that wind and short period, it’s going to be a messy, blown-out mess. Too big for beginners at that size, but not quality for anyone else with that wind.

Monday the 14th sees a drop back down to 4ft in the morning (WNW, 9 seconds, 307 energy), but the wind stays onshore and light. It’s still marginal. The afternoon gets even smaller at 3ft.

From Tuesday the 15th right through to the end of the month, the swell just fades into nothing. We’re looking at waves from 1ft to 3ft for the rest of the period. The wind is mostly light and cross-onshore, sometimes onshore, but it doesn’t matter because there’s almost no energy. The combined energy figures drop down into the 100s and even hit 96 on Thursday the 17th – that’s weak, weak energy. The swell direction hangs around the S to SW, with periods getting long (18 seconds, 19 seconds) on those tiny waves, which means you’ll be waiting forever between sets for a knee-high ripple. Point breaks or reefs would be the only place those long-period waves would even stand up, but there’s just not enough size.

Honestly, if you’re a kite surfer, that Sunday afternoon might look more interesting than for a paddle surfer. For the rest of us, it’s a pretty lean outlook. Keep an eye on it, though – forecasts can change.

Rusty.

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