La Jolla Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at the prospects for La Jolla Cove over the next couple of weeks.

Alright, strap in, because this is a tough one. Honestly, the entire 16-day window looks pretty grim for quality waves at La Jolla Cove. The long-range charts are showing a persistent lack of any decent swell energy, and the wind is rarely doing us any favors. There's a stretch of nothing particularly good, and then it just sort of stays flat. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, so at least a dip won't be a shock to the system.

Let's start from the beginning. The first real chance of anything surfable is on Wednesday morning, the 26th of August. We've got a weak 3 ft swell from the SW, with a long period of 16 seconds, but the combined energy is only 346 (moderate but weak). The wind is a light cross-shore, so it's not clean, and the call is for "marginal surf forecast or questionable tide conditions." It's a slightly better option than the afternoon, which is even smaller and gets a "poor surf conditions" rating.

After that, it's a long, slow slide into the doldrums. Thursday the 27th brings a bit of a cross-offshore breeze in the morning, which cleans the surface up, but the swell drops to 2 ft. The wave energy is weak (193) and the quality is still ranked as "poor surf conditions." The afternoon is slightly better, described as "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions," which is the best description you'll get for this whole run. From Friday the 28th of August all the way through to the 10th of September, the forecast is a relentless stream of "poor surf conditions." The wind is predominantly cross-on or onshore, the swell heights hover between 1.0 ft and 4 ft, and the periods are short and weak. The wave energy rarely even cracks 100, with most days sitting in the weak two-digit range. For a spot like La Jolla Cove, which is a reef and point setup that's fairly exposed but needs a decent swell to work, this is a dead period.

The best you can really say is that the first Wednesday morning, the 26th of August, is the only window that even registers as "marginal". For a beginner-friendly spot like this, and with the swell barely hitting 3 ft, there's nothing for anyone to get excited about. If you're desperate, you might find a tiny, bumpy line on the 26th morning, but it’s more of a float than a surf. The rest of the period is a write-off for paddle surfing. At this size and with the persistent onshore wind, those with a kite might find more interest in the choppy conditions than those of us with a surfboard. I wouldn't hold your breath.

Rusty.

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