Rancho Santini Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break it down. The guidance points to just one spot on the menu: Rancho Santini, a consistent beginner wave. But lookin’ at the full 16 days, it’s a tough slog. The swell shows up here and there, but the wind direction is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, and the scores are mostly zeros – poor surf conditions all the way. A few days crawl up to a 1 or 2 out of 10, but even those are labelled marginal.

First real chance is Saturday 11 July. In the morning, we’ve got a 3ft swell from the SSW with a 15-second period – that’s long-period groundswell, good energy – but the wind is light cross-onshore from the SW at 6 mph, so you’ll see some ripples. The water temperature is about 67°, nothin’ unusual for this time of year. The combined energy is moderate (460), so you’ll feel the push, but the surf is marginal and the tide may be tricky. The afternoon stays similar: 3ft, same direction, wind goes cross-shore, still light but not clean.

From Sunday 12 July all the way through Wednesday 22 July, it’s pretty much junk. Onshore winds from the west and WNW, sometimes up to 16 mph, with swell heights from 2ft to 4ft. The swell is there but the wind ruins it. Thursday 16 July gives us a 4ft WNW swell but with a short period of 8 to 9 seconds – that’s windswell, weak and bumpy – and cross-onshore wind again. Not worth the paddle.

The outlook picks up around Saturday 18 July. That morning, we get a 3ft S swell with a 17-second period – very long interval groundswell – and the combined energy jumps to strong (767). Wind is light cross-onshore from the SSW at 6 mph. Still marginal, but there’s more grunt. Saturday afternoon builds to 4ft from the south (15 seconds) with onshore wind from the west at 6 mph – still not clean. Sunday 19 July through Monday 20 July stays marginal with 3ft to 3ft SW swells and onshore wind.

The last hope in the forecast is Saturday 25 July. Morning is a dud – 2ft SW, 20-second period (extremely long groundswell) – but the afternoon fires up with 4ft SW, same 20-second period, and the combined energy hits a massive 1188 – that’s very strong ocean energy. Problem is, the wind is onshore from the WNW at 9 mph, so it’ll be bumpy. Sunday 26 July is similar: 4ft SW, 18-second period, combined energy of 830, wind still onshore or cross-onshore.

So to put it straight: Rancho Santini is a consistent beginner wave but this 16-day stretch is rough. The only day that comes close to being rideable is Saturday 11 July, and even that’s not clean. The second week has serious groundswell energy but the wind won’t get out of the way. If you’re keen, try Saturday 11 morning or late on Saturday 25 afternoon, but don’t expect much. A blank run like this isn’t out of the ordinary for the area when the wind sets in.

Rusty.

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