La Palue Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, let’s get into it.

First up, the water temp at La Palue is sitting at 67°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year — nothing crazy, just a little gift from the ocean.

Right now, honestly, it’s a tough stretch. The first eleven days? Not much to write home about. Tuesday morning (August 11th) starts off with a tiny 2ft glassy wave, but the swell is short-period and weak — combined energy only 56 — and the conditions are just ordinary. By afternoon, the wind swings cross-on and it’s already choppy.

Wednesday through the middle of next week, the swell tries to bump up a bit — Thursday morning the 13th sees 4ft with period stretching to 11 seconds, and the energy jumps to 335, which is actually moderate wave energy. But the wind is cross-on from the NW, and the reports keep calling it poor. It’s frustrating because the size is there, but the wind just won’t play ball.

From Friday the 14th all the way through to Thursday the 20th, it’s a grim run. Small surf, messy winds, and the only clean conditions come with strong NE winds that are just too strong for any real quality.

Then, finally, on Friday morning August 21st, there’s a flicker of hope. The swell jumps to 6ft from the WNW, wind goes light offshore from the east at 6 mph, and it’s glassy clean. The combined energy hits 419 — solid moderate energy. The report even says “expect good surf conditions.” This is your standout window. La Palue is an expert-only spot, exposed, consistent, and it loves a WSW swell direction — the WNW is not perfect, but it’s close enough. The crowd factor is “often,” so expect company, but for a clean morning with 6ft and offshore wind, it’ll be worth sharing the peak.

But listen, that Friday afternoon the wind swings onshore and it goes to mush. Saturday the 22nd gets even bigger — 7ft — but onshore winds ruin it. That’s too big for beginners anyway, and only experts would even consider it in those conditions.

After that, it trails off again. Sunday the 23rd through the end of the outlook is small and wind-affected. A few scraps of 2ft to 3ft with cross-on or onshore wind. Not worth paddling out for.

So the one true standout is Friday morning, August 21st. Mark it. Everything else in this 16-day window is either blown out or too small.

Rusty.

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