Ocean Beach Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here with a look at the surf outlook for Ocean Beach Pier over the next couple of weeks.

Alright, I gotta be straight with you. We are looking at a pretty barren stretch here. The surf is tiny and the conditions are mostly messy. The swell energy is there, but it’s all wrong for this spot. For the first week, from August 7th right through to the 13th, we’re dealing with waist-high slop that’s barely breaking. It’s a long period swell, mostly from the SSW and SW, which isn’t the ideal W direction for this exposed beach and reef setup. That long period swell (over 15 seconds) will just make it break too straight and walled up. The wind is mostly cross-onshore or onshore, so it’s choppy and frustrating. The first real time we see a little bump is around Sunday the 9th afternoon, with 2 ft and a light breeze, but even then it’s only a 1/10 call—just marginal at best. From August 10th to the 14th, the water temp is much warmer than normal for the time of year, but that hardly matters when there’s no decent wave to ride.

There is a slight glimmer of hope in the second week, but you have to be patient. The best chance we get in this entire 16-day period is on Friday, August 14th, in the morning. The swell will be from the SW with a period of 18 seconds and the combined energy bumps up to a moderate 533. We’re looking at 2 ft but with a clean offshore wind from the WNW. That’s a major positive. This is the one window where the wind might actually groom those long-period lines. It’s still small, but for Ocean Beach Pier, with light offshore wind, it could be the only time it’s worth paddling out. After that, it gets windy and choppy again, with moderate wind from the WNW that will ruin the surface.

The last week is more of the same: small, weak, and onshore. From August 17th to the 22nd, it’s all 2 ft to 3 ft SW windswell getting mashed up by onshore and cross-onshore breezes. There’s nothing to get excited about. The crowds are often here anyway, but during this kind of week, the place should be quiet.

So, if you’re dead set on a surf, you wait for that small window on the morning of August 14th. It’s a long way out, so don’t book time off work, but it’s the one standout moment on the forecast. Otherwise, leave the board in the car.

Rusty.

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