Moss Landing Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

We’ve got a long stretch ahead, and I’ll be straight with you: the first week and a half is a bit of a write-off. The first proper surf on offer actually shows up on July 7th, but even then, it’s a tough sell. The real story here is that sweet little window later on.

Starting off, we’ve got nothing to get excited about from July 4th right through to the morning of July 12th. That’s a solid eight-day gap of poor conditions. The swell is small and weak, around 2 ft to 3 ft with combined energy mostly below 100 (84) or just creeping into three digits, but every single session is tagged as “poor surf conditions.” The wind is a constant cross-on from the west or west-southwest, so it’s chopped up. Not worth paddling out.

The first real glimmer happens on the morning of Sunday, July 12th. It’s still not great, but the combined energy jumps to 443 (moderate) with a 5 ft swell from the NW, period at 8 seconds. The wind is a light cross-on, so it’s messy but there’s a bit more juice. Still marginal.

Things stay marginal through to Wednesday, July 15th. The morning of July 15th sees a 5 ft WNW swell with a period of 10 seconds and combined energy hitting 552 (moderate). The wind is light cross-on, so it’s still bumpy, but that’s a bigger swell and a bit more period.

Now, the standout – the one that really gets my blood pumping – is the afternoon of Wednesday, July 15th. At Moss Landing, we’re looking at a 5 ft swell coming from the WNW, period of 10 seconds, and combined energy of 742 (moderate-to-strong). It’s still marked as marginal because of the cross-on wind, but with light breeze and the energy building, this is the best on offer in the whole run. The water is sitting at 60°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – that’s a nice bonus.

After that, the swell drops back. July 16th afternoon sees a tiny 2 ft groundswell with a very long 19-second period and combined energy of 624 (moderate). That super long period will make it tricky at a beach setup like this; it’ll break straight and be hard to line up. The morning of July 17th also has a long-period (17 seconds) 3 ft swell, but the wind is still cross-on.

The window on Saturday, July 18th, both morning and afternoon, has 3 ft swell with 16-second periods and energy around 600 (moderate). Still marginal due to the onshore wind component.

Then we fade out. July 19th has a brief window of offshore wind in the morning – WNW at 6 mph – with a tiny 2 ft SW swell at a very long 16 seconds. But the energy is 411 and the wave comment is “poor.” Not really a goer.

So to sum it up: most of this 16-day run is quiet. The only real date to circle on the calendar is Wednesday, July 15th afternoon at Moss Landing, with that 5 ft WNW swell and moderate-strong energy. Everything else is for the kite crew or a flat spell.

Rusty.

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