Oceanside Harbor Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right. Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – this 16-day stretch for Oceanside Harbor is a tough one. It’s a beach and jetty setup that’s exposed to the west, and the swell we’re getting is coming in from the south-southwest and southwest. That’s a tricky angle for this spot, and the winds are almost always messing it up. There’s a real long gap of nothing worthwhile right from the start.

You’re looking at a solid week of just poor surf conditions starting Sunday the 9th of August. The swell is tiny – around 3ft to 3ft – and it’s getting chopped up by cross-onshore winds. The wave energy is moderate at best. Don’t even think about paddling out.

The first flicker of something happens on Friday the 14th of August. The swell is still small, around 2ft to 3ft from the SSW, but the period is a nice long 18 seconds – that’s proper groundswell energy. The combined energy jumps up, getting stronger. But the wind is still a cross-onshore breeze, so it’s going to be messy. It’s only a “marginal” call. Not a standout, but the best of a bad bunch for the first week.

Then, the whole second week is pretty much a write-off. From Sunday the 16th of August right through to Monday the 24th, it’s all “poor surf conditions” with tiny swell and persistent onshore or cross-onshore wind. The energy drops back down. There’s a tiny pulse on Saturday the 22nd of August morning with a very long 21-second period, but the swell is only 1ft – too small to do anything with.

Honestly, there’s no true standout window here. If you’re desperate, the best chance is the morning of Friday the 14th of August. That 18-second groundswell will have some push, but the cross-onshore wind will keep it from being clean. For a jetty, a long period swell can wrap in, but the wind will kill the shape. The water temperature is a very unusual 76°F, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year, so at least you won’t be cold while you’re sitting there disappointed.

Because the winds are so consistently poor for this exposed beach setup, it might actually look more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on most of these days. Save your energy.

Rusty.

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