Long Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you—it’s looking grim on the surf front for the next couple of weeks at Long Beach. I’ve got a 16-day window in front of me, and to be honest, there’s no recommendation to paddle out here. It’s a blank run, and for this area, that’s just how it goes sometimes. The wind is pretty much always cranked from the east and southeast, cross-onshore and messy, and the surf quality is shot right through. But hey, forecasts can change, and it never stays poor forever.

Let’s break it down from the start. Saturday the 5th kicks off with a light east-southeast breeze at 16 mph, cross-on, and a small 3 ft east swell with a short 8-second period. Combined energy is weak at 174, and it’s just poor—choppy, no shape. The water is sitting at 85°, and that’s about average for this time of year, no sweat. Sunday the 6th is more of the same: 4 ft east swell, still cross-on, still poor. We go through Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th with the swell bumping up to 5 ft–6 ft and period dropping to 7 seconds, energy climbs into the 300 range (moderate), but the wind stiffens to 19 mph, making it lumpy and hopeless for a paddle.

Wednesday the 9th through Friday the 11th sees the swell push over 7 ft (7 ft on Wednesday morning, 7 ft by Thursday afternoon) with east winds blowing 19–28 mph. Energy jumps into the 500–639 range (strong), but it’s all messy, cross-onshore, and way too strong for any kind of rideable wave. With these conditions, it’s more of a kite-surfing show than anything for a surfboard. The period stays short at 7–8 seconds, so no real grunt behind it, just windslop.

From Saturday the 12th through Sunday the 20th, we’re looking at a slow fade. Swell drops from 6 ft down to 3 ft and eventually 3 ft by the end. Periods stay short (7–8 seconds), and the wind hardly lets up—still 16–19 mph from the east, cross-on almost every session. Energy dips below 200 by the last few days, so it’s just weak and choppy. Not a single standout in the whole run. If you’re desperate, wait for a light wind day, but don’t hold your breath. As I said, it’s one of those stretches where the ocean just isn’t playing ball. Rusty.

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