Moss Landing Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming up for Moss Landing over the next couple of weeks. Straight up, I gotta be honest with you – it’s a tough stretch. We’ve got a whole lot of days where the wind is just pinning everything onshore from the west or southwest, and that’s messing up what little swell we’ve got. For the most part, the waves are small, weak, and choppy. There’s a couple of windows where conditions look a bit more interesting, but don’t expect any hero sessions.

The first real chance at anything worth paddling out for comes on Tuesday, July 28th. Through the morning we’ve got a 4 ft swell from the WNW with a period of 8 seconds, and a combined energy reading of 202 (moderate). The wind is a gentle cross-onshore from the WSW at 9 mph, so it’s still a bit messy. By the afternoon the swell bumps up to 6 ft from the WNW with energy hitting 362 (moderate), but that wind stays onshore. It’s not clean, but there’s some size there for the more experienced crew. At 6 ft, this is heading into expert territory for sure.

Now, the standout in the whole run is Thursday, July 30th. The morning sees a 6 ft swell from the NW with an 8-second period, and the combined energy jumps to a strong 643. The wind is lighter – only a 6 mph cross-onshore from the WSW – so the surface will be less bumpy. Still not glassy, but it’s the best combo of size and cleaner conditions we see in the whole forecast. Afternoon stays solid at 5 ft with 525 energy, wind picks up a touch, but the morning window is the one to target.

From there, things level off. The first week of August keeps churning out WNW swell in the 4 ft to 7 ft range, but it’s the same old story – cross-onshore wind every day. By Monday, August 3rd, the swell period hits 10 seconds on a 6 ft to 6 ft WNW swell, and the energy is up around 544-668, which is solid moderate. But the commentary keeps calling it “poor surf conditions” or “marginal,” and with the wind never swinging offshore, it’s hard to get excited.

The best chance at actually decent shape comes Tuesday, August 4th morning, with a 7 ft WNW swell and an 11-second period – that’s a proper groundswell energy of 965. That’s a big number. The wind is the lightest it gets, still cross-onshore at 6 mph, but the long period will mean long lulls between sets. For a beach-and-reef setup like Moss Landing, that long-period WNW swell might line up alright, but the onshore wind is still gonna put a lid on it. This is only for experienced surfers at that size.

Honestly? If you’re a kiter, this whole run looks more interesting. The swell is consistent enough, and the cross-onshore wind is steady for riding. For a surfer, there’s no day here I’d circle as a *must-go*. The morning of July 30th and the morning of August 4th are the closest we get to a decent wave, but keep expectations low.

The water temperature is sitting at 60°F, which is about 2° warmer than average for this time of year – a touch on the warm side, nothing crazy.

Stay tuned, forecasts can always change, but for now, don’t rush to the beach.

– Rusty

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