Pismo Beach Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what Pismo Beach Pier has got cooking for the next couple of weeks. Straight up, if you’re from around here you know that Pismo is an advanced, exposed spot. The water’s sitting at 59°, which is a bit colder than usual for this time of year, so you might want that 4/3.

Right now we’ve got a bit of a flat spell to start. There’s not much to get excited about for the first few days. Wednesday the 22nd and Thursday the 23rd are showing poor surf with messy, cross-shore winds, and the swell is weak at around 3 ft from the SW with a period of 14 seconds. The combined wave energy is moderate but the wind is just chopping it all up. A bit of a dud to be honest.

We start to see some potential kick in on Friday the 24th morning. That’s the first real standout of this outlook. The swell drops to 2 ft, but check that period – 24 seconds! That is a very long period groundswell coming from the SW. The combined energy is strong (1079) for an exposed beach break, but that long period can make it break a bit straight and fat. Wind is light cross-shore, so it could be clean, but it’s tiny. The afternoon picks up to 6 ft from the WNW, but that’s wind-affected and makes for a choppy session. For a more experienced crew, the morning might be worth a look for the pure quality of that groundswell energy.

Moving on, Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th are pretty average. We’re looking at small 2 ft - 3 ft SW groundswells with periods around 19-21 seconds, and light cross-shore winds. Combined energy is strong (around 800-900s). The waves will be clean enough but limp. You’ll be scratching for ones.

Into the following week, Monday the 27th afternoon sees the combined energy spike up to (1521) with a 3 ft SW swell at 19 seconds. The wind is cross-onshore though, introducing a bit of chop. Tuesday the 28th morning is your next half-decent window with similar 4 ft SW swell (18 secs, 1066 energy) and a gentle cross-shore breeze. Still not firing, but you can get a few.

The second week gets more interesting but less certain. Wednesday the 29th brings a bigger pulse: 7 ft of NW windswell, period a short 8 seconds, with cross-shore winds. That’s a lot of energy (1560) but with that short period, it’s going to be a bumpy, closed-out affair. This is really only for the experts, and even then, it’s not clean. For the average punter, it’s probably more of a kite-surfing setup.

We then drop into a bit of a lull from Friday the 31st of July through to early August. The 31st of July has some light offshore winds on Friday morning with 3 ft SSW swell, but the energy is just moderate (559). It’s the best on offer for a cleanish small wave session that morning, but it’s nothing to write home about. The rest of that weekend and the start of August is small, weak, and messy with poor to marginal calls.

The very end of the outlook on Wednesday the 5th of August shows a new pulse of 5 ft from the WNW with a short period of 7 seconds, but the wind is light cross-onshore. The energy is moderate (555), but it’s not going to be pretty. A long-range ‘maybe’ for the die-hards.

So, if you’re looking for a window, Friday the 24th morning is your best bet for the pure quality of that long-period groundswell, even if it’s small. For something with a bit more size but some mess, Tuesday morning the 28th is your next best.

Rusty.

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