Morro Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Hey folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – the outlook for the next 16 days out here is a tough one. We’ve got a long stretch of poor surf conditions ahead with very little to get excited about. The water temperature is sitting around 60°F which is about average for this time of year, so at least a wetsuit isn’t out of the ordinary.

The first couple of days are a washout. Wednesday the 26th through to the end of the month have small, weak swell and cross-onshore to onshore winds that are chopping everything up. The only real bump in energy comes on Thursday the 27th morning with a 6ft NW swell, but the cross-on wind and marginal quality mean it’s a no-go. The combined energy hits 587 (moderate) that morning, but it’s still messy.

The wave energy drops right off after that into the first week of September. We’re looking at flat spells with zero energy on Tuesday the 1st, and then tiny 1ft to 2ft leftovers for days. The wind is often light and onshore, sometimes cross-onshore, but the swell is just too weak to do anything with. The only real pulse of longer-period swell is a 16-second SW groundswell showing up on Wednesday morning the 2nd, but at 1ft it’s barely a ripple. The combined energy that day is only 108 (weak).

Even into the second week, the story doesn’t improve. Friday the 4th sees a 3ft NW swell later in the day with a 10-second period and a touch more energy (139, still weak), but onshore winds keep it poor. Saturday the 5th and Sunday the 6th are more of the same – tiny, onshore, grovelly. The last few days of the forecast, from the 8th to the 10th, have a few longer-period SW and WNW pulses, but the heights are laughable, between 1ft and 2ft, and the wind is never in our favour.

The only break we’ve got to look at is Morro Rock. It’s a consistent beginner spot that’s fairly exposed to the NW swell, but the crowds are sometimes a factor. The optimum swell direction is from the NW, which matches what little swell we get, but the wind is almost always cross-on or onshore, and the wave quality is rated poor the whole way through. There’s not a single standout session in the lot.

Honestly, this is a tough run. There are days with no surf to speak of, and the gaps are long – several days in a row with zero recommendations. The combined energy barely hits triple digits most of the time, and when it does, the wind kills it. I’d say it’s one of those stretches where the forecast could change, but as it stands, leave the board at home for a while.

Rusty

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