North Torrey Pines Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. The long-range outlook is a bit of a slow burn, but there’s something to work with for patient surfers.

The first real chance to get wet comes Saturday morning, August 29th, at North Torrey Pines. We’re looking at a 4ft SSW groundswell tracking in at a very long 16 seconds. The combined energy is moderate at 728. That long period means the waves will have some real push and shape, which is a good thing. The wind is light offshore from the West at 6 mph, so the surface will be clean. The water temp is sitting at 76°, which is a wild 8° warmer than normal for this time of year – that’s a very unusual anomaly, so you won’t need a thick wetsuit. This is a beginner-friendly wave height, but the long period can make the sets a bit more powerful and the lulls between them longer. Keep an eye on the tide. Crowds are sometimes a factor here, so expect some company.

The swell hangs around through the weekend, but the wind gets a little more tricky. Sunday morning, August 30th, still has 4ft of SSW swell at 15 seconds, but the wind swings to the SW at 9 mph, making it cross-onshore, so expect a light chop developing. The energy is still moderate at 707. It’s still surfable, but not as pretty as Saturday.

By Monday, August 31st, the swell drops to 3ft and the period shortens up. The wind stays offshore, though. The energy is dropping to 674. It’s marginal.

Tuesday and Wednesday, September 1st and 2nd, look poor. The wind is cross-onshore or tricky, and the swell drops right down. The energy plummets to 283 on Tuesday. It’s a real struggle.

We get a slight uptick again on Thursday, September 3rd, with a 3ft SSW swell, and the wind is light offshore from the West. The period jumps up to 18 seconds by the afternoon, which is very long. The energy builds to 729. Again, the caveat with that long period at a beach break: it can be a bit straight and walled, but with offshore wind, it could still offer some fun, clean lines.

The pattern continues through the first week of September. The best of the bunch looks like Saturday, September 5th, with a 4ft SSW swell, 16-second period, and light offshore wind from the West at 6 mph. The energy is 772. That’s a solid morning session with clean conditions.

From Monday, September 8th, we see a slight bump in size, hitting 5ft on Tuesday afternoon, but the wind is a moderate cross-onshore at 12 mph, making it choppy and poor. That’s too big for beginners and just messy for everyone else.

The second week drops off quickly. From Thursday, September 11th, through to the end of the forecast on September 13th, the swell is tiny (2ft to 1ft) and the wind is mostly cross-onshore. The energy is very low, dropping to 250. There’s nothing to recommend here; it’s a flat spell to finish.

Overall, the standout is Saturday morning, August 29th, for the cleanest combo of that 4ft, 16-second groundswell and light offshore wind. The other solid option is Saturday, September 5th, for similar conditions. Everything else is marginal or poor.

Rusty.

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