Pescaderos Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, surf's up... well, sort of. Let me level with you. The next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for any real waves around here. We've got a long stretch of tiny, weak surf, and honestly, most of the time it's not going to be worth paddling out for unless you're beyond desperate for a slide. This is one of those classic flat spells for the region, and it's going to drag on for the better part of a week and a half.

The water's a balmy 70°, which is much warmer than usual for this time of year. That's a bit of a treat, but it doesn't make up for the lack of swell.

Looking at the start of the period, Monday the 17th has the best of a bad bunch. We're looking at a small 2ft SSW groundswell with a solid 15-second period, and the energy is weak to moderate at 199. Pescaderos will be pretty gutless, but the light cross-shore wind won't totally ruin it. By the afternoon, the wind will go a bit more cross-off, cleaning it up, and the swell holds at 2ft. It's still small, and I'd call it ordinary at best, but it's the most surfable it's going to be for a while. The swell direction is from the SSW, which is a bit off the optimum for this spot.

Then we hit a major drought. From Tuesday the 18th all the way through to Friday the 29th, the forecast is just bad. The waves drop off to nothing, the swell energy gets weak, and there's really nothing to get excited about. We're talking about a couple of weeks of knee-high slop and junky conditions. The wind is mostly light, but it's cross-shore, so it just messes with what little texture there is. You'll see the swell period get long at times, like on Sunday the 23rd with an 18-19 second swell, but the height is only 1ft. All that long-period energy and nowhere to go. It's just one of those stretches where the ocean is taking a holiday. Pescaderos is fairly consistent, but it's just not breaking with any power.

There is a slight pulse late in the window. Around the 30th of August and the 1st of September, the swell fills in a touch more, showing 2-3ft and then 3-3ft. The energy is still weak to moderate, with the combined energy reading around 348 (strongest of the period) on the 30th morning. But it's a short-period, weaker wind swell by then, with the period dropping to 8 seconds on the 1st. It'll be more of a bump than a wave. The wind is also looking iffy, with more onshore flow in the morning and a better cross-off in the afternoon. It's a marginal call, and over a week away, so you've got to take it with a grain of salt. It's promising that we're seeing some energy, but the quality is going to be a big question mark.

So, bottom line: if you are absolutely jonesing, the early part of Monday the 17th is as good as it gets, and even that is a stretch. The surf is not too big for anyone, but it's just too small for anyone to bother with. We're in for a long, flat spell, but that's the nature of this place. Forecasts can change, so I wouldn't sell the surfboard just yet, but plan for a lot of free time.

Rusty

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