Moss Landing Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s cut through the noise and get real about what Moss Landing has on offer over the next few weeks. I’ve been staring at the charts, and honestly, it’s a bit of a rough stretch for paddle surfing. The wind is almost always coming from the wrong direction for this spot, keeping things messy.

We start off looking at a long, flat gap. From now until the morning of Thursday, July 16th, there’s nothing worth getting wet for. The swell is small, the wind is cross-onshore, and the wave comment says it plainly: poor surf conditions. You’ll see some combined swell energy building into the moderate range by Wednesday afternoon, but it’s a short-period 5ft swell with a crummy cross-onshore breeze. Not our kind of wave.

Thursday the 16th through Sunday the 19th of July sees the swell size pick up, but don't get too excited. By Thursday afternoon, we’ve got 7ft of short-period, 7-second slop, with strong energy – that’s a lot of water moving around without any real shape. The wind stays unkind, cross-onshore.

Now, there is a tiny glimmer. Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th of July bring in a groundswell. Look at that period jump to 18 seconds and then 17 seconds. The swell height drops right down to 2ft, but the energy is actually high. This is a very long-period ghost pulse. The problem? It’s still cross-onshore. For a beach break like Moss Landing, a long-period swell like this tends to just close out or run straight across the sand. For the picky surfer, that Sunday the 19th morning gets a very low score – considered "marginal" by the models. With the winds still light and cross-onshore, it’s a long shot. If you are an expert on a log, you might find a bump, but don’t hold your breath.

Friday, July 24th morning stands out as the only real highlight in this entire outlook. That morning we get a sniff of a very long period 24-second groundswell, mixed with a small 2ft swell and light winds. The combined energy hits a very notable level. This is a promising but less certain call since it’s more than a week away. The window is tight, and the swell direction is from the SW, which is not the optimum NW direction for Moss Landing. But if this big, long-period energy lines up, a reef or point break would be a better bet. For Moss Landing, it’s a gamble but potentially the best wave of the period.

The rest of the outlook after that point falls back into the same pattern: small, weak, and onshore. We see light cross-onshore winds and combined energies dropping off. There’s nothing to write home about.

In summary, this area is going through a tough run. The wind is the villain, and it almost never lets up. For the paddler, it’s a waiting game. The long-period swell on the 24th is the one day to circle on the calendar, but treat it as a gamble, not a guarantee. For the rest of it? Might be a better time to clean the board or check the winds for a kite session, because this stretch is more suited to the kite than the paddle out.

Rusty

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