San Jose Rivermouth Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what San Jose Rivermouth is serving up. It’s a river mouth break, fairly exposed to the south swell, and over the next couple of weeks we’ve got a bit of a waiting game. The pattern is persistent moderate SSW swell, but the wind and tide are going to mess with the quality more often than not. There’s one real standout in the second week, but you’ll have to be patient.

Water temp is a warm 28°, which is much warmer than average for this time of year, so no wetsuit needed.

We start on Friday the 3rd of July with a clear afternoon. Swell is a modest 3 ft from the SSW at 14 seconds, combined energy moderate (607). Wind is light and cross from the SW, creating a few ripples but still surfable. It’s marginal. Saturday the 4th has similar size, around 3 ft, but the morning has a south-southeast offshore wind that’ll clean it up nicely. The period jumps to 18 seconds by the afternoon, a proper groundswell, but the wind swings cross-on, making it a bit lumpy.

Sunday the 5th pushes up to about 4 ft from the SSW, 16-second period, decent energy (892). Morning is clean with a light offshore, so that’s your best early session. From Monday the 6th through to the 11th, the swell hangs between 4 ft and 5 ft, but the wind is mostly cross or cross-on, and the wave comments are all “marginal” or “poor.” The energy ranges from moderate to strong (up to 1518 on Tuesday the 7th), but the chop and onshores kill the quality. This stretch is a skip.

We hit a flat patch in the middle of the month, with swell dropping to 2 ft – 2 ft and poor conditions, before things change on Friday the 17th of July. Swell picks up to 6 ft from the SSE, 12 seconds, with a cross-offshore wind from the WSW in the afternoon. That’s clean and has some real punch (combined energy 1488). This is a standout for the stronger paddlers.

Then comes the big one on Saturday the 18th of July. The morning brings a massive 16 ft swell from the south, 14 seconds, with a light cross-shore breeze. Combined energy is a monster 9120 – that’s very strong. The wind goes offshore in the afternoon, leaving the faces clean. I have to be straight with you: 16 ft is only for the experts. It’s way too big for beginners and most intermediates. That’s a big-swell river mouth day, a spectacle more than a casual paddle. The guide says it’s too big for the break, but for those with the skill, that’s the best day of the whole forecast.

So, for clean, manageable waves, Sunday morning the 5th of July with that 4 ft SSW swell is your pick. The absolute standout, if you’re an expert, is Saturday the 18th of July with that enormous 16 ft south swell and offshore wind.

Rusty.

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