L Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, checking in on the local scene for the next couple of weeks. Let’s be real, it’s looking pretty grim out there for a while. We’ve got a long, flat spell to start, nearly a week of barely a ripple. It’s not until Thursday the 10th that we finally see something that could even be called a wave, and even then, it’s just about the only game in town.

L Jetty is all we've got to look at for this entire 16-day stretch. The wait is the story here. From now until Wednesday the 9th, it’s a total write-off – tiny, weak, and just poor surf conditions. The water is way warmer than usual right now, sitting at 75°, which is a solid 5° above normal for this time of year. That’s a nice anomaly, feels like a tropical bath.

Alright, the first real breath of life comes on Thursday the 10th. The morning delivers a bump of 4 ft swell from the SSW, with a short, windswell period of just 6 seconds. It’s not pretty, but with a 12 mph offshore wind from the W, it’s clean and surfable. The combined energy is a moderate 196, so there’s some juice, but it’s weak and lumpy. It’s really only for the keen who need a paddle. By afternoon, it drops to 3 ft from the S. The conditions are described as "very ordinary," but it’s all we’ve got. This is the standout simply because it’s the only period with any height and clean faces.

After that, we slip right back into the doldrums. From Friday the 11th all the way through to Sunday the 20th, we get tiny surf, mostly under 3 ft, with onshore or side-shore winds and poor conditions. There’s a couple of glassy moments—like the Friday the 11th afternoon with 2 ft and zero wind, and the 18th of September afternoon with 1.0 ft—but the swell is just too weak to do anything with.

There’s a slight tease on Saturday the 19th with a 4 ft NE windswell appearing in the afternoon, but it’s coming straight onshore at 6 mph, making for a messy, bumpy lineup. Not worth getting excited about.

Then, on Sunday the 20th morning, we get a final flash: 2 ft from the east, 7-second period, and dead calm, glassy conditions. The report calls it "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions." It’s clean, but tiny.

Honestly, if you’re itching to get wet, Thursday the 10th is your one and only shot, and that’s a low bar. For the rest, you’re better off waiting for a new forecast. For most of this run, the weak, choppy, onshore wind conditions at L Jetty make it look more like a kiteboarding spot than a paddle surfer’s dream. It tends not to stay this dead for long around here, so the next window could look very different.

Rusty.

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