La Jolla Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s look at what’s on the table for the next couple of weeks. Honestly, it’s a tough stretch. We’ve got a 16-day window, but the first week and a half is pretty much a write-off. The water temperature is about normal for this time of year, nothing to write home about it.

The first real chance for a surf comes on Saturday, 30 August. Even then, it’s pretty grim. The waves are only around 5 ft from the WNW, but the wind is a gentle cross-shore breeze, which leaves a bit of cross-chop. The combined swell energy is moderate at 238, but the surf quality is described as poor, so don’t get your hopes up. That’s the best we’ve got for a while, and it’s not saying much.

We then have a long gap of almost no surf recommendations until Wednesday, 9 September. Most days are a mix of tiny, weak swell, onshore or cross-onshore winds, and very low energy. The swell period is often short (under 8 seconds), and the combined energy mostly sits well under 100, which is weak. There’s a brief bit of clean, cross-offshore wind on Sunday, 6 September, but the waves are almost non-existent at 1 ft, so it’s a flat spell.

Finally, things start to look a little more promising on Tuesday, 10 September, but it’s still not great. The surf is small, around 3 ft, coming from the SW with a moderate 17-second period, so there’s some long-period groundswell energy. The combined energy climbs to 541 on Thursday morning and 667 on Thursday afternoon – that’s moderate to strong energy. But the wind is cross-onshore, blowing from the W at 9-12 mph, making it fairly choppy. The surf quality is still poor, so it’s hard to get excited.

The one true standout, if you can call it that, is on Friday, 11 September. The morning shows a bit of marginal surf with 3 ft SW swell at 15 seconds, and a light cross-onshore breeze of 6 mph. The combined energy is 457, which is moderate. It’s not perfect, but it’s the most promising of the whole run. The wind is light, so the chop is minimal. It’s still a small wave, though.

Because the swell is so small and the wind is generally cross-onshore or onshore, the setup is more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

So, overall, a pretty barren outlook. The best you’ll get is a small, clean-ish wave on Friday, 11 September, but it’s marginal at best. Keep an eye on the forecast, but don’t plan your week around it.

Rusty.

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