Isla Vista Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s happening at Isla Vista.

Honestly, I’m gonna level with you. For this entire 16-day stretch, the surf just isn’t cooperating. We’re looking at a long, frustrating run of small, messy, wind-affected waves. The first real opportunity you might want to look at isn’t until Thursday the 27th of August, and even then, it’s only a marginal call. There's about a week of flat or poor conditions before we get to that.

The biggest issue is that nearly every day has a nasty cross-onshore breeze. Even when the odd long-period groundswell tries to push in, that wind just ruins the shape, especially for a beach and reef setup like Isla Vista. The water temp is running much warmer than normal for the time of year at 69°, which is a bit unusual but doesn’t help the wave quality.

Alright, so where’s the glimmer? The only time I’d even consider paddling out is on Thursday morning the 27th. We’ll see some waist-high swell, around 3 ft from the South, with a period of 12 seconds. That’s enough to wrap in a little, and the wind is forecast to be light offshore from the SW (6 mph). That early glass-off should give the south-facing parts of the beach a clean, lined-up look. The combined energy will be strong at (553), so there’s some punch there, but don’t expect perfection. It’s still a marginal tide-dependent scenario.

Beyond that, the forecast is a write-off. Even the bigger stuff on the 31st of August (roughly 5 ft to 6 ft from the WNW) is coming with a short, weak period and a nasty 16 mph cross-shore wind. That kind of setup is more for the kite crew than a surfer. The same story repeats through the first week of September, with small, weak swell and onshore winds. It’s a blank run, plain and simple.

In a spot like this, it doesn’t stay this bad forever, so keep an eye on the forecasts. For now, I’d save the wax for another week.

Rusty.

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