North Jetty at Eureka Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for the next couple of weeks.

To be straight with you, the start of this period is a bit of a flat spell. We’ve got a long gap from the beginning through to the end of July with nothing really worth paddling out for. The wind is mostly cross-onshore and the swell is small and weak, with combined wave energy barely hitting 100 to 200 (moderate to weak) for most of that stretch. It’s just not doing much.

Things start to get interesting towards the end of the month and into early August. The standout here is North Jetty at Eureka on Friday, 24 July. The swell switches to a long-period groundswell from the SW, with a period of 24 seconds and combined energy jumping up to 1202 (strong). That’s a very long period, which means the waves will be packing plenty of punch, but they might break a bit too straight for a beach/jetty setup. Still, the wind goes light and cross-onshore, so it’ll be fairly clean. Early morning on the 24th, the combined energy is 501 (moderate) and the swell is smaller at 2ft, but Thursday afternoon has the better energy and 3ft swell.

After that, we get a run of SW groundswell through the 25th and 26th, with the combined energy staying strong (around 1076 to 1349). The wind is a bit more cross-onshore, but it’s still light, keeping things reasonably clean. The swell is in the 3ft to 4ft range, so not huge, but for a jetty break, that’s a fun size.

The water temperature is about average for the time of year, so no surprises there.

Come the start of August, the swell picks up a lot. On Sunday, 2 August, the swell from the NNW hits 10ft in the morning, with combined energy at 1197 (strong), and it’s cross-onshore. By the afternoon, it’s 12ft with 1860 combined energy. That’s getting into expert-only territory, especially with the wind being moderate and cross-onshore, making it choppy. The best of that big swell might be on Monday, 3 August morning, with 12ft and a combined energy of 2041 (very strong), and the wind is offshore, so it could be clean. But that’s heavy, heavy surf for a beach/jetty. If you’re not a pro, stay on the sand.

The following week sees similar big, chunky NNW swell, but with the wind staying cross-onshore or moderate, it’s going to be a mess. The combined energy stays high (over 1200 at times), but the quality is poor.

So, if you’re after a paddle, the best window is that Friday, 24 July to Sunday, 26 July stretch. The SW groundswell has the most promise, and the wind is light. For the big stuff on 2 and 3 August, it’s more for the tow crew or the kite crowd – the beach setup and strong cross-onshore wind makes it a better kite session than a paddle session.

Rusty.

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