Redwood Creek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, this is Rusty, and I’m staring at the charts for Redwood Creek over the next couple of weeks. This is a river mouth that’s exposed to the west, and it’s a spot that breaks rarely, so we’re not looking at a steady rhythm. The water temp is about par for the course, so no big surprises.

The start of the outlook is a bit of a slow grind. The morning of Friday, September 4th, brings a 2.0m, 10-second swell from the WNW, with a strong energy reading of 1222. But the wind is from the SSW, making it a cross-shore, and the call is marginal. It’s not a total loss, but it’s not what you’d drive for. That afternoon drops to 1.7m, still from the WNW, but the wind turns cross-onshore, which messes up the face.

We’ve got a long stretch of small, disorganized swell and onshore winds well into the first week. The waves are mostly under 1.0m, with periods all over the place, from short 7-second junk to long 15-19 second groundswells, but the wind never plays ball. The combined energy sinks into the 200-300 range, which is weak. It’s a real quiet spell.

There are a couple of windows that open up. The morning of Saturday, September 12th, the wind goes glassy, dead calm, with a tiny 0.7m, 14-second swell from the southwest. The energy is weak (359), but the glassy conditions will make it look like a mirror. This is a window for a longboard or a funboard if you’re patient. But the next day, Sunday, September 13th, is the real standout. The morning and afternoon both have glassy conditions, light winds, and a 1.3m swell from the WNW with a 10-second period. The combined energy is moderate (408 and 370). This is a rare moment when the river mouth might actually string together a few lined-up waves. It’s not huge, but it’s the best quality in the whole forecast.

After that, the swell tries to build again. The morning of September 17th has a promising window with glassy winds and a 1.2m, 10-second WNW swell, energy at 450. That’s a good call. The afternoon gets a touch bigger at 1.5m, but the wind turns cross-onshore, which gets a bit bumpy. The final days are looking at 1.7m to 2.0m WNW swell on the 18th and 19th, but the wind is still cross-onshore, and the period drops to 8 seconds or less, making it short-period, choppy, and less appealing.

If you’re looking for the best session, you’re aiming for Sunday, September 13th at Redwood Creek. The glassy conditions and that 1.3m groundswell will be the cleanest and most fun day of the whole period. The run-up to that is a lot of waiting. The morning of the 12th is a decent backup if the 13th doesn’t pan out.

The second week has a few more potential windows, but the reliability is lower. The morning of the 17th is a solid bet for clean 1.2m surf. The bigger swells later in the week are likely to be a bit of a mess. For now, I’m feeling good about the 13th.

Rusty.

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