Leffingwell Landing Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it. We’ve got one spot on the radar for the next 16 days, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag. That spot is Leffingwell Landing, a reef setup that’s very consistent and exposed to the swell. The overall pattern is a long stretch of pretty ordinary, messy surf with a few small windows of hope right at the very end.

The forecast kicks off on Friday the 24th of July, but it’s a real flat start. Waves are tiny, around 3ft to 2ft, coming from the SW with a super long period of 24 seconds. That’s a proper groundswell, but there’s no energy in it to push through the cross-onshore winds. The combined swell energy is sitting at 884, which is moderate, but the wind is just ruining it. It’s choppy and poor. The water temp is about average for this time of year.

This frustrating pattern carries right through the weekend and into the next week. We get a bit more size by Sunday the 26th with 4ft swells, but the wind stays cross-onshore and the period drops. The wave energy climbs to 1038, but the conditions are still marginal at best. Monday and Tuesday the 28th see a jump in size, with a 8ft WNW swell showing up on Tuesday afternoon, but the period is a short 8 seconds and the wind is a fresh 19 mph cross-onshore. That’s just lumpy, messy, and honestly, at that size with that wind, it’s more of a kite surfing session than a paddle surfing one. The combined energy is 1663, a strong reading, but it’s all wasted.

The wind finally starts to ease up around Wednesday the 30th of July, with a light cross-shore breeze on Thursday morning. The swell is still small, around 3ft from the SSW, but the energy is low at 916. It’s a glimmer. Then on Friday the 31st, we get a 5ft NNW swell with a light onshore wind. The energy drops to 687, and it’s still marginal. The pattern holds through the first week of August, with some small, onshore, short-period waves.

But here’s the standout. The real, honest-to-goodness highlight is Tuesday morning, the 4th of August. The wind goes glassy. Absolutely dead calm. The swell is a clean 4ft from the WNW with a period of 10 seconds, a nice mix of power and shape. The combined energy is 346, which is weak, but it’s the cleanest window in the entire 16 days. The forecast says "expect good surf conditions". That’s the one. If you can get out there that morning, you’ll be rewarded with clean, lined-up waves at a reef break. The water is still about average for the time of year. After that, the wind picks up again and the conditions fade.

So, the long and short of it: the first week and a half is a right-off. A lot of wind, a lot of chop. The best bet is that Tuesday morning, 4th of August. It’s not a big swell, but it’s clean and it’s the only true window. Mark it in the calendar.

- Rusty

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