Rancho Santini Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, surfers, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it.

The next couple of weeks are looking pretty flat and weak for our stretch of coast. We’ve got a run of small, mostly onshore swell that’s going to keep things small and pretty average. The first real chance of anything worth paddling out for doesn’t show up until the end of the first week, and even then, it’s a marginal call.

The water is sitting at a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, 71°, which is noticeable but nothing wild.

If you’re desperate for a paddle, the first real sniff of life is on the Friday morning, the 7th. Swell drops to a small 2ft from the SSW, with a clean 19-second period. The wind is light and cross-on, which will put a few ripples on it, and the energy is moderate (506). It’s a marginal forecast, not a classic, and the break here is consistent, so it might just be worth a look if you’re frothing. Saturday the 8th morning is a similar story, 2ft from the SW, but with a slightly shorter 16-second period and a bit less energy (376). Still light cross-on winds.

Don’t get too excited, because through the middle of next week, it just stays small and poor. The energy stays in the 300-500 range, which is weak to moderate, and the swell just doesn’t have any push. There are periods with good period readings up to 18 seconds, but with only 2ft on tap, that’s a lot of water moving slowly, which can make things soft at a spot like this.

The first genuinely interesting window in the long range starts around the 14th. The energy starts to climb into the strong zone, with readings in the 500s and 600s. By the 15th, we see a bigger pulse of 3ft at 16 seconds from the SW, with the energy jumping to 579 on Saturday morning. The wind is still light and onshore, but this is the biggest swell of the period so far. It’s not huge, but it’s something.

Then on the 17th, things finally get a bit of life. A push of WNW swell arrives at 5ft, but the period crashes to just 8 seconds. That’s short-period windswell, and it’s cross-on with moderate to fresh winds. It’s going to be lumpy and pretty messy. The energy is high at 659, but for a paddle surfer, that’s a lot of chop. Honestly, with that short period and the cross-onshore wind, this setup looks far more interesting for the kite surfers than for us.

So, the bottom line is there’s nothing epic on the horizon. The conditions stay mediocre, and the swell direction from the SW is onshore, which is never a good look. The one day that might have been a glimmer, the 17th, gets chopped up by the wind and the short period. It’s a long wait for very little reward.

Keep the board in the car, but don’t rush to the water.

Rusty.

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