Long Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into the outlook for Long Beach. We’ve got a solid run of swell coming through, but it’s not all clean sailing. The water’s sitting at a touch under 58°, which is a bit colder than normal for this time of year, so you might want a thicker wettie for the early sessions.

The action kicks off on Saturday morning, the 29th of August. We’re looking at a clean 6ft swell from the WSW, with a long 15-second period. The energy is strong here, clocking in at 1303, and with a light cross-off breeze, it’ll be clean. This is a solid start, but the real standout isn’t just yet.

The wind picks up Saturday afternoon, and Sunday gets a bit messy with a fresh breeze, but the swell is building. Monday morning the 31st is where it starts to get interesting. The wind swings offshore, cleaning up a 7ft SW swell with an 11-second period. The energy is moderate at 1108, but the offshore flow will make it feel way better.

Now, the true standout in this whole run is Tuesday, the 1st of September. Tuesday morning we’ve got an 8ft SW swell with a 13-second period, and the combined energy is pumping at 2436. The wind is light and cross-off, so it’s going to be clean. This is excellent for experienced surfers—it’s a bit big for beginners. Tuesday afternoon gets even better, with the swell pushing 10ft and the energy spiking to 3314. The wind stays light, so this is the session to circle on the calendar. This is a solid, powerful SW groundswell with that long period, so it’ll be a bit more lined up and have more push between sets.

Wednesday the 2nd holds the same size, with a 10ft SW swell and 14-second period, but the wind is a stronger cross-off. The energy is still massive at 3717, but the chop will make it a bit less perfect than Tuesday. Still, that’s a lot of water moving.

Then we hit a rough patch. Thursday the 3rd through Friday the 4th is a write-off with gale-force winds, even though the swell is still around. The setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on those days—it’s just too blown out.

Things settle down a bit by Saturday the 5th, but the swell drops to 4ft, and the wind is funky. Sunday the 6th is also poor.

The next real standout pops up a week later, on Monday the 7th of September. We get a 5ft WSW swell, but the period is a very long 18 seconds. The energy is strong at 1817, and with a light cross-off in the morning, it’s going to be glassy. Monday afternoon is even better, with a 7ft WSW swell and a 16-second period, the wind goes offshore, and the energy is at 2005. This is excellent for experienced surfers—that long period will make the waves well-shaped and powerful, but at a beach break like Long Beach, it might break a bit too straight. It’s a point-break kind of swell.

After that, there’s a bit of a lull until the 11th of September. Friday the 11th morning is a cracker: 8ft WSW swell, with a 16-second period, and the energy is huge at 3224. The wind is glassy, so it’s going to be perfectly clean. Saturday the 12th holds similar size and energy, with a light offshore wind, so that’s another excellent day for the experienced crew.

The run ends on Sunday the 13th with a big 12ft SW swell, but with a cross-on wind, it’s a little messy. However, the afternoon swings offshore, cleaning up a 10ft SW swell, so there’s a window for the brave.

So, to sum it up: the best bets are Tuesday the 1st of September for the combination of size, power, and clean conditions, and then the glassy Friday the 11th of September for that long-period groundswell with perfect conditions. The first week has some solid swell, but the second week looks promising if you can wait it out.

Rusty.

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