Point Arena Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for Point Arena over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, I gotta be straight with you – the first half of this forecast is a tough one to swallow. We’ve got a solid slug of swell, but the wind is just not playing ball. The water is sitting at 55° – that’s a bit colder than normal for this time of year, so you’ll be reaching for the hood if you’re paddling out.

We kick off on Monday, the 10th of August. There’s a decent 8 ft NW swell running with a moderate 9-second period. The combined energy is hefty (1060), but it’s all cross-shore wind from the NW at 9 mph, so it’s going to be a bumpy, chop-filled mess. Not the one for a glassy morning. That carries on through Tuesday and Wednesday, with the swell staying over 8 ft but the wind staying crossy. By Wednesday afternoon, the conditions are so poor the score is a zero. We see a slow drop in swell size through Thursday and Friday, with the 5 ft to 6 ft range still being ruined by onshore or cross-onshore winds. The energy drops from 933 down to 270, so it’s not just messy, it’s losing its push.

We hit a real low point over the weekend of the 15th and 16th. The swell bottoms out at 1 ft, and while Sunday afternoon goes glassy, there’s no wave to ride. That’s a dead period.

The second week doesn’t look much better for proper surfing. From Monday the 17th through to Wednesday the 19th, the swell is tiny, mostly under 3 ft. There’s a small spike in energy (196) on Wednesday afternoon with a 3 ft WNW swell and a north wind that’s cross-offshore, so it’s clean, but the height is just too small to get excited about. The combined energy picks up a bit on Friday the 21st, hitting 372, but the swell is a messy 3 ft from the WNW with a 17-second period – that’s a very long period, but it’s breaking too straight for a beach break and the wind is onshore. Not our day.

The final few days of the outlook, around the 24th and 25th of August, do show a bit of a pulse. We’re looking at 5 ft to 8 ft NW swell coming back in, with periods around 7 to 8 seconds. The combined energy is back up to 924, which is solid. But again, the wind is a problem – cross-shore and cross-offshore from the north. On Tuesday afternoon, the 25th, it’s a clean look with a fresh breeze, but the swell is washing up at 7 ft with a short period, which is more of a windswell mush.

There’s no real standout here. The conditions are just too marginal for a good paddle. With the strong cross-shore wind and solid swell, this setup actually looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The waves have energy, but the quality is just not there for us.

Rusty.

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