San Clemente State Park Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. The window ahead is a bit of a slow burner. We’re looking at a long stretch of small, inconsistent waves, mostly hanging around knee-to-waist high. There’s a decent groundswell pulse early on, but the winds are going to be a problem more often than not, keeping things bumpy and a bit of a wrestle. You’ll need to pick your moments carefully.

The only spot on the menu is San Clemente State Park. For a beginner-friendly, consistent beach break, it’s your only option. Water temp is running about average for the time of year, nothing wild to report there.

The first worthwhile window kicks off on Thursday morning, August 13th. You’ve got a 2ft swell coming from the SW with a very long period of 16 seconds. The combined energy is modest (340), so it’s small, but that long period will give it a bit of push. The wind is a light breeze from the SW, so the surface should be clean. It’s marginal, but that’s your best shot.

Thursday afternoon gets a touch bigger (3ft, 16 seconds, 475 energy) but the wind shifts to WSW and it gets labelled “poor surf conditions.” I’d stick to the morning.

Friday morning, August 14th is the real standout. Clean skies, a light offshore WSW breeze, and a 2ft swell from the SSW with a long 18-second period. The combined energy bumps up to 594. That’s about as clean as it’s going to get. For a beginner spot, that’s a fun little session.

After that, it gets messy. From Friday afternoon through the weekend and into the next week, the wind goes cross-onshore or straight onshore. The swell hangs around 3ft to 4ft but it’s choppy and poor. Saturday morning, August 15th might be worth a look with a 3ft SSW swell (16 seconds, 615 energy) and just light cross-onshore ripples, but it’s not clean.

There’s a big quiet patch from around August 17th to August 22nd. Waves drop to 1ft to 2ft, periods shorten, and it’s all labelled poor or marginal. Not worth paddling out.

Things try to pick up again on Monday, August 24th. We get a 2ft SW swell with a 18-second period (430 energy) and light onshore wind. It’s marginal, but there’s some long-period energy trying to get in. That trend continues into Tuesday morning, August 25th, with a 2ft SW swell (16 seconds, 405 energy) and clean wind. That’s the next real window, but it’s still small and a long way out, so don’t book the day off yet.

Honestly, the only two sessions I’d get excited about are Thursday morning, August 13th, and especially Friday morning, August 14th. After that, it’s a waiting game for very small pulses that might clean up. For a place that’s usually fairly consistent, this is a lean run.

Rusty

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