Redwood Creek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here with a look at what’s coming up for our stretch of coast. To be straight with you, the next few weeks aren’t shaping up to be anything special. Most of the time the surf is just messy or marginal, and we’ve got a lot of onshore and cross-onshore wind chewing things up. But there are a couple of brief windows where it might just turn it on, so let’s walk through it.

First up, we’ve got Redwood Creek. It’s a river break that rarely breaks, so even when there’s swell, it’s a gamble. The water is sitting at 53° — that’s a bit colder than normal for this time of year, so you’ll want a good thick suit. The combined swell energy is moderate, reading at 382, but with a short-period NW swell at 5 ft and a light onshore breeze, it’s really poor surf conditions. Saturday afternoon stays marginal, with the swell bumping to 6 ft and cross-onshore wind. Not worth the drive.

Sunday the 5th keeps that same NW swell around 6 ft, but winds are cross-onshore again, and the energy climbs to 525-735 — still moderate though. The wave comment says marginal at best. Monday the 6th is more of the same: 6 ft NW swell with 8 second period, light cross-onshore wind, energy around 636. Just not clean.

Tuesday the 7th brings a longer period NW groundswell — 4 ft at 11 seconds — and the energy jumps to 828, but the wind is onshore in the morning and cross-onshore by the afternoon. That long period means the waves will have a bit more shape and power, but with that wind, it’s still only marginal. Wednesday the 8th sees a weird little pulse of 2 ft SW swell with an 18-second period — that’s a very long period groundswell, which can be tricky at a beachy river mouth like this, often breaking too straight. Energy’s moderate at 636, but the wave comment says poor surf. Not your day.

Thursday the 9th and Friday the 10th are back to NW swell around 5 ft to 7 ft, but winds are onshore or cross-onshore, and the comments are consistently marginal to poor. The weekend of the 11th and 12th drops right off — tiny 2 ft to 3 ft swell, poor conditions. A real blank run. Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th are basically write-offs.

Monday the 13th is flat and poor until the afternoon, when a short-period NW swell jumps to 8 ft with 12 mph cross-onshore wind — that’s messy and big, combined energy is moderate at 717, but only experts should even think about it, and even then, the wind is ruining it.

Now, here’s the first real stand-out. Tuesday the 14th — the afternoon session at Redwood Creek looks promising. The swell is a solid 7 ft from the NW with 8 second period, but here’s the key: the wind turns glassy, and the wave comment says expect very good surf conditions. Combined energy is moderate at 766. That glassy wind will make for clean faces. Just remember it’s a river break that rarely breaks, so it’s a rare treat when it lines up. Crowds are possible here — they’re often around. This is your best bet in the near term.

Wednesday the 15th morning keeps the energy going — 6 ft NW swell with a light cross-offshore wind from the south, clean conditions. That’s another good window, though the swell is a bit smaller. The afternoon gets cross-shore wind and marginal conditions again.

Then we hit another gap of poor surf until Thursday the 16th afternoon — tiny 3 ft SW groundswell with an 18-second period, glassy wind, and very good surf conditions expected. Combined energy is moderate at 900. That long period and glassy conditions will make for some clean, long-period lines, but it’s small and may break straight at this break. Worth a look if you’ve got a log.

Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th bring the biggest swell of the outlook — 7 ft to 8 ft NW swell, with 8-9 second periods, and combined energy hits strong at 1240-1312. Winds are onshore or light, so conditions are marginal, but the size is there. This is going to be too big for beginners (over 5 ft), and at over 7 ft it’s really for experienced surfers only. Sunday the 19th drops back to a more manageable 5 ft to 5 ft NW swell with light wind.

Overall, the standout is Tuesday 14th afternoon for the glassy conditions and solid 7 ft NW swell. The second best is Wednesday 15th morning for the clean cross-offshore wind. Everything else is a marginal grind. If you’re a kite surfer, the bigger, windier days like Monday 13th afternoon might be more your scene — the NW swell and moderate breeze will be more interesting for kiting than paddle surfing.

Stay patient, keep an eye on the forecasts, and I’ll catch you down the line.

Rusty

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