La Yerbabuena Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s break down the outlook for La Yerbabuena for the next couple of weeks.

I’ll be blunt – this stretch is looking pretty flat and sad for a while. The first real chance of anything even worth paddling out for doesn’t show up until Friday, August 7th, and even then it’s a marginal one. The water’s sitting at 71°, which is a bit colder than normal for this time of year, so bring a good wetsuit.

The whole first week is a write-off. From Monday the 3rd through to Thursday the 6th, we’ve got tiny swell – barely 1ft to 3ft – with a cross-onshore wind messing it up. The combined energy is weak, under 100 (51 to 81), and the period is short, under 8 seconds. It’s just choppy, messy, and not worth your time. That’s four days of nothing.

Friday the 7th morning shows a glimmer. The swell is still only 3ft from the WNW with a period of 7 seconds, but the wind swings to a light cross-offshore from the east, cleaning it up. The combined energy bumps up to 96, still weak, but it’s the best we’ve seen. The surf report says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions,” which is about right. It’s a point break, so it can handle a bit of direction, but don’t expect much. That afternoon goes glassy but the swell drops right off.

Saturday the 8th starts glassy with no wind, but the swell is tiny – 2ft and 6 seconds. Energy is down to 36. It’s flat, really. The rest of that weekend and into the next week is the same story: small, weak, and mostly cross-onshore winds. Sunday the 9th has a bit of swell but the wind is onshore and gusty. Not happening.

The real standout, if you can call it that, is Thursday the 13th of August. The morning shows a 3ft swell from the west with a period of 9 seconds, and the combined energy jumps to 159 – finally moderate. Best of all, the wind is light and cross-offshore from the north, giving us clean conditions. The optimum swell direction for this point is SW, so a west swell is close enough to work. It’s still only 3ft, so it’s a small wave, but it’s the cleanest, most energetic session in the whole 16 days. That’s your best bet, but it’s still a long way out, so keep an eye on it.

After that, it drops away again. The morning of Friday the 14th shows a 4ft swell with 184 energy, but the wind is cross-onshore from the south, making it choppy. Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th are back to tiny, weak surf. The last few days, Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th, are a total loss with 1ft to 2ft and cross-onshore wind.

A note on the break: La Yerbabuena is a point and river setup, and it’s inconsistent, meaning it doesn’t fire often. The crowds are marked as “often,” so if you do get a clean day, expect company. The north-east offshore wind is the one you want, and we get that on Friday the 7th and Thursday the 13th, but the swell is just too small to make it a classic.

Overall, there’s nothing to get excited about. We’ve got a long gap of poor surf, then one half-decent morning on the 13th. It’s a tough run, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Rusty.

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