Ocean Beach Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are looking pretty flat and scrappy for Ocean Beach Pier. For the first few days, the wind is just gonna be junking it up from the northwest, putting a real chop on that SSW swell. We’re looking at a poor start. The water temp is running a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, about 72.1°, which is nice for the paddle out, even if the waves aren’t cooperating.

Monday the 7th kicks things off with a 5.2ft SSW swell, but that 15.5 mph NW cross-onshore is going to turn it into a mess. The swell energy is moderate at best (822), but it won’t matter much with that onshore breeze. Tuesday the 8th is much the same – smaller, around 3.3ft, and still choppy.

We’ll see some light winds Wednesday through Friday, but the swell just drops off, leaving us with tiny, weak 2ft waves. There’s a little pulse of longer-period SW groundswell (16 seconds) arriving Wednesday morning, but it’s just too small and the cross-onshore wind will keep it lumpy. It’s marginal at best, honestly not worth getting too excited about. The wave energy stays weak to moderate (372 to 487), so it’ll be frustrating out there.

The weekend follows suit. Saturday the 12th stays small, and Sunday the 13th brings a bit more size, around 3.6ft, but the period drops way down to 8-9 seconds. That short-period windswell is just going to be crumbly and soft, not the kind of waves you want to get out of bed for. Still poor surf conditions.

We have a solid gap here where nothing is really firing. From the 15th through the 17th of September, the swell is still small, though we do start to see those longer periods returning (15, 16, and 17 seconds). But the wave heights stay around 2ft to 3ft, keeping things in “poor” or “marginal” territory. The light winds are a positive, but we need the size to back them up.

Looking further out, into the last week of the forecast window, the longer-period SW groundswell is still showing, and the energy readings start to creep up a bit. From the 18th to the 22nd, we are seeing periods of 16 to 19 seconds, which is great for shape, but the height is still hovering down around 2ft to 3ft. It’s promising to see that consistency in the direction and period, but it’s all still very small. This is all a long way out, so while it’s a glimmer of hope, it’s more of a "maybe there’ll be a corner to find" kind of outlook rather than a sure thing. There’s a slight chance of a cleanish one on the 18th or 19th with those light WNW winds and long-period swell, but it’s a faint hope.

Honestly, for the next couple of weeks, this looks like more of a rest period for the surfboard and maybe a time to check the tides and see if any sandbars are shaping up. The consistent break itself is still there, but the ocean isn’t giving it anything to work with.

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