Isla Vista Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s cut to it. For the next stretch, we’re looking at a pretty bleak run, to be honest. Isla Vista isn’t giving us much to work with for a while. There’s a long gap with hardly any surf worth paddling out for. For the first several days, we’re talking tiny, weak waves—knee-slappers at best, if you can even call them that. The energy’s just not there, and most of the time the wind’s messing with the surface, making things lumpy and cross-onshore. It’s the kind of stretch where you’re better off checking the cams and going back to bed.

Come Sunday the 20th, the energy starts to creep up a bit, with the combined swell energy hitting 401, but even then it’s still under 3 feet and the tide’s making things questionable. The period is around 18 seconds, which is proper groundswell, but at this size, it’s not doing much except maybe smoothing out the lineup a little. Still, you’ve got light winds in the mix, so if you’re desperate, there might be a clean-ish wave for a log, but it’s marginal. That trend continues into the early part of that week—small, occasional pulses, but nothing that gets the heart rate up.

Then there’s another stretch around the 24th and 25th where it just fades out again. The swell’s dropping, the wind starts picking up a bit more, especially that Friday afternoon with a moderate breeze chopping things up. It’s a hard pass. Saturday the 26th has a bit more wind, too, so even the small stuff is going to be rough.

Interesting shift comes Tuesday the 29th in the afternoon—the swell jumps to around 6 feet, but the period drops right off to 6 seconds. That’s short-period windswell, all mush and bump, and it’s cross-onshore. That’s not surfable—that’s just chop with a pulse. Then Wednesday the 30th, we’ve got around 4 feet with a bit longer period at 8 seconds, but still under that clean threshold, and it’s onshore. Honestly, for the whole 16 days, there’s not a single standout. The best you can call it is marginal, and most of it is just poor.

I’d say this is one of those blank spells where the ocean just isn’t cooperating. It happens. The swell direction is mostly from the southwest, which is okay for this spot, but the size and period just aren’t lining up with the winds to give us anything clean. If you’re really keen, the Sunday morning on the 20th might be your best chance for a few soft ones on a longboard, but don’t expect much. Otherwise, it’s a lot of watching and waiting.

Stay patient.

Rusty.

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