Ocean Beach Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s cookin’ over the next couple weeks at Ocean Beach Pier.

Right off the bat, the water is a balmy 73°, which is a solid 5° warmer than usual for this time of year. That's a rare treat – feels like a summer holdout.

The pattern ahead is pretty drawn out, I gotta be honest. We’re looking at a long stretch of mediocre to poor conditions. The first decent session doesn’t really show up until Saturday the 5th, and even then, it’s only just passable. The standout window looks like Sunday the 6th, with the biggest push of energy, but the wind is the problem.

Let’s break it down. Things start real slow at Ocean Beach Pier. Friday the 4th is a write-off – weak 4 ft swell from the SW with a long 16-second period, cross-onshore breeze, and the energy is sitting at a meager (837). It’s choppy and messy.

Saturday the 5th sees a slight bump, with the swell sticking around 4 ft to 4 ft from the S, period dropping to 13 seconds, and energy creeping up to (1082) in the afternoon, but that cross-onshore wind is still messing with the surface. It’s marginal at best.

Now, Sunday the 6th is the main event in terms of size. We get a 6 ft swell from the SSW, period 14 seconds, and the combined energy hits (1223) in the morning. That’s a solid moderate groundswell. But here’s the rub – it’s cross-shore wind at 12 mph from the NNW, creating a nasty cross-chop. The setups are beach and reef, which means that long-period groundswell (14 seconds) won't be at its best here; it'll want a point or a rivermouth to really line up. This will be a challenging, choppy mess, and with 6 ft, it’s getting a bit too big for beginners. Honestly, at this point, with that wind and the beach-break nature of the spot, the conditions look more interesting for a kite session than a clean paddle. It’s a bit heartbreaking because the swell has potential.

After that, it’s a slow slide downhill. Monday the 7th still has 6 ft of SSW swell but the same cross-onshore wind and energy dropping slightly to (1305), but it’s still poor. By Tuesday the 8th, the size drops to 5 ft, and we enter a proper lull.

From Tuesday the 8th all the way through to early on Friday the 18th, it’s a long, drawn-out gap of mostly poor surf. We’re talking over a week of tiny, weak swells, mostly under 2 ft, with persistent cross-onshore or onshore winds. The energy drops into the low hundreds or even two hundreds – that’s just flat-out weak.

Eventually, we see a tiny flicker of life on the 18th and 19th of September. The swell is still small, around 2 ft to 3 ft, but the period stretches back out to 18 to 20 seconds – very long period. The combined energy climbs back into the moderate range, hitting (726) on the 19th. The wind also lightens up to a light breeze, making things less choppy. These are long-range promises, so don’t get your hopes too high, but it’s the only glimmer of something that might just line up for a few clean little peelers if the tide cooperates.

The best bet in this whole window is a reluctant nod to Sunday the 6th for the biggest waves, but only if you’re a strong paddler and don’t mind the chop and cross-wind. For a cleaner, smaller wave, keep an eye on the 19th of September. It’s not classic at all, but it’s all we’ve got.

Rusty.

Read more