Laguna Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's get into it.

We are looking at a pretty flat, drawn-out stretch here. Honestly, the next couple of weeks are going to be a scratch-fest. The swell energy is just not there in any meaningful way. We’ve got a run of weak, short-period SW energy, and the wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, which is a recipe for rows of closeouts or just plain dribbly nothing. It’s not a total washout – there are some tiny windows of cleaner conditions – but you’re not going to be getting any waves of the year. There’s nothing on the horizon that screams “go,” so you have to be patient and pick your moments.

Looking at the first few days, we are starting out with a small SW swell in the 2ft to 3ft range, with light onshore winds. There’s a weak pulse of energy that arrives around the 20th of September. Saturday the 20th sees the combined energy push up to 492, which is the first sign of any life, but it's still weak overall. The period is hanging in that 17-18 second range, which is long, but with that little size, it's likely just showing up as inconsistent lines at the better spots, not the average beach break.

The standout window for a surf is more than a week out. It’s the morning of Monday the 22nd of September, and it’s a qualified pick. The swell is still only a tiny 3ft, but the period is a long 17 seconds, and the energy ticks up a bit. More importantly, the wind is set to be light, which will keep things clean and glassy. It’s the most promising period of the first week. It’s right on the edge of being worth a paddle, but you’ll need a spot that can handle that long-period SW groundswell.

And that’s the caveat with these long-period swells. Periods over 15 seconds are considered very long, and they can break too straight at a beach break. This is where Laguna Beach (California) really shines. It's a reef, so it’s better set up to handle this kind of energy. The direction is also good, coming from the SSW, which is almost optimum for the refraction into the bay.

After that little kick, the energy backs off again. The first few days of the last week of September see the swell drop back to that weak 2ft – 2ft range with period dropping into the 15, 14, and even 12 second range by the 28th and 29th. The winds stay mostly onshore and there are a few days where it gets a little choppy, particularly in the afternoons. The 20-25 km/h west winds on the 24th and 25th will junk it up more than anything. The last day of the forecast, October 1st, shows the swell even smaller at 2ft. It’s a poor run of conditions, so it looks like you’ll be chasing small, clean windows rather than any big, powerful surf.

So, bottom line: keep your expectations low, and if you see a period with light winds and a bit of long-period energy, jump on it, especially at a place like Laguna Beach.

Rusty

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