Long Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here, and I’ve been staring at the charts for Long Beach. Let’s get into it.

We’ve got a real mixed bag coming our way. The surf looks solid for a few days, but then it gets messy and big. The standout period is the first couple of days for clean, powerful swell, but after that, hold onto your hats – it’s gonna get wild and blown out.

Wednesday afternoon (July 15th) is already cooking. Long Beach has a solid 10ft of southwest groundswell rolling in with a long 16-second period. That’s proper energy (4295), the kind that makes you want to drop everything. The wind is a light cross-offshore, so the lines should be clean for experienced surfers. This is serious size though – over 8ft – so only experts are going to have fun out there.

Thursday morning (July 16th) is the real gem. The swell drops slightly to 8ft from the same SW direction, but the wind goes absolutely glassy – zero knots. That’s the best you’ll see. The water temp is sitting at 59°, which is pretty normal for this time of year, nothing unusual there. This is the session to aim for; it’s big, powerful, and clean.

Thursday afternoon stays clean with 8ft and light winds, and Friday (July 17th) is still good as the swell drops to 6ft, then 6ft in the afternoon with glassy conditions. That’s a really nice run of surf for intermediate surfers too.

Saturday (July 18th) the wheels fall off. Nasty cross-onshore winds from the NNW kick up a choppy mess, even though there’s still swell. Don’t bother paddling out – unless you’ve got a kite, the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

We get a brief reprieve on Sunday morning (July 19th) with clean 6ft waves and light cross-offshore winds, and Sunday afternoon even goes offshore with 4ft. That’s a nice little session.

Then we hit a dead zone. Monday (July 20th) is blown out and small. Tuesday (July 21st) is a washout with gale-force onshore winds and a messy, jumbled 12ft swell. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (July 22nd-24th) see the swell pumping huge – 16ft to 20ft – but it’s all cross-onshore and blown to bits. That’s big, messy, and dangerous; expert-only stuff at best, and not recommended.

Friday afternoon (July 24th) is interesting. The swell is still 10ft, but the wind swings offshore from the south. That will clean it up significantly, making for excellent, powerful waves for experts again. That’s a quality window if you can wait it out.

The following week (July 25th to 30th) stays consistent with moderate to large SW swell (7ft to 12ft), but the wind is unreliable. There are a few windows of clean conditions, like Tuesday afternoon (July 28th) with 10ft and cross-offshore wind, and some days in late July with clean cross-offshore winds. It’s promising, but less certain. Keep an eye on those afternoons. This spot is fairly consistent, so it tends not to stay poor for long.

Overall, the best on offer is Thursday morning (July 16th) – glassy conditions and a powerful 8ft SW groundswell. Second best is the first couple of days for clean, solid surf. After that, it’s a waiting game for the wind to play nice again.

Stay stoked.
Rusty.

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