Montoya Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty.

To be straight with you, looking at the next couple of weeks here at Montoya, it’s a pretty grim stretch. The first week and a half is basically a write-off for any decent paddle surfing. The swell that shows up gets slapped around by messy winds, and the scores are consistently low. The combined swell energy is mostly weak, often under 100, and even when it climbs into the lower hundreds, the wind just ruins it. You’ll see bigger days on the 5th and 6th of September, with swell heights hitting 6ft to 6ft, but that’s raw, short-period windswell coming from the SW and SSE, and the wind is either cross or onshore, making it ugly. On the 6th, the SSE wind is onshore and strong, hitting 19 mph, with the combined energy up to 380, but it’s just a messy, blown-out mess. Not for paddling.

The water is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, sitting at 55°F.

We get a real gap of quiet, unexciting stuff from the 3rd right through until the 17th of September. There are a few mornings where it’s clean, like the 11th and 16th, with light offshore wind from the NW, but the swell is tiny—only 2ft to 2ft, and the energy is weak. It’s surfable, but barely. You’d be scratching for anything.

The one true standout in this whole 16-day window comes on the Friday the 18th of September. This is the one to circle. The morning looks the pick of the whole period. We’ve got a clean 4ft swell from the south, with a cross-offshore wind from the west at a gentle 9 mph. The water cleans up nicely, and the combined energy jumps to 369, which is a solid, moderate push. The waves will have some shape. The afternoon sees the swell size bump up to 4ft, and the period gets long at 12 seconds, which is proper groundswell. The energy climbs to 548, which is strong. The only fly in the ointment is the wind swings onshore from the south, making it a bit choppy and cross-onshore, so the morning session is the absolute winner. The long period south swell will work best down at the point, so keep that in mind. It’s not a beginner wave at that size, but for the experienced crew, it’s the only window of genuine quality in the forecast.

So, hang tight. The first 15 days are a tough slog, but that Friday the 18th is worth waiting for. Forecasts can change, but as it stands, that’s your best bet.

Rusty.

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