Morro Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer for Morro Beach over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be straight with you – the outlook is a bit of a flat spell for paddle surfing. The good news is, there’s a tiny window of hope that pops up later, but for the most part, we’re looking at a long stretch of pretty average conditions.

The pattern here is a prolonged period of small, weak swell. For the first week, from Saturday the 8th of August right through to the end of Thursday the 14th, the wave energy is consistently low. We’re talking combined swell energy readings mostly in the 200–300 range, which is weak. The swell heights are tiny, hanging around 2ft to 3ft, and the wind is almost always a cross-onshore, putting a bit of a chop on the surface. There’s a couple of mornings (like Monday the 10th and Tuesday the 11th) where the wind goes light and onshore, but the surf is just too small to get excited about. This is a solid run of “poor surf conditions” with scores of 0 out of 10. For a reef break like Morro Beach, it's a quiet time.

Now, there is a glimmer. Things start to shift a little around Friday the 14th of August. The morning shows a bump in energy to 405 (moderate wave energy) with a very long period of 19 seconds from the SSW. The swell height is still only 2ft, so it’s not going to be big, but that long-period groundswell energy means the sets will have some push. The wind is light and onshore, but the water is warm – about average for this time of year. The afternoon gets messy with a cross-onshore breeze, but that Friday morning is the first real “marginal” call we’ve seen.

The best bet of the whole run looks like Sunday the 16th of August. The morning session sees a 3ft SSW swell, again with a period of 16 seconds, and the combined energy hits 481 (moderate). The wind is light and cross-onshore, but it’s a “light cross-onshore with small wind ripples,” so it’s not too messy. This is the only morning that gets a “marginal surf forecast” rating (score of 1). It’s not a standout, but it’s the best we’ve got. The crowd factor at Morro Beach is “often,” so expect a few others with the same idea.

After that, it drops back down. The following week, from the 17th to the 23rd of August, we’re back into the same pattern: small, weak swell (2ft to 3ft), energy below 400, and mostly cross-onshore winds. The water stays warm, but for a paddle surfer, there’s just not enough juice. The period stays short to moderate, and the wave quality is consistently poor.

Bottom line: If you’re desperate for a wet session, keep an eye on Sunday the 16th of August. That’s the pick of a very quiet bunch. For a reef break that’s fairly exposed to the SSW, we’re just waiting for a proper pulse. The rest of the time, the setup looks more interesting for a kite than a paddle.

Rusty.

Read more