San Mateo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here, checking in on San Mateo for the next couple of weeks. Let’s be real: the first few days are a total washout—choppy, onshore, and not worth your time. You’re gonna have to wait for things to clean up.

The first sign of life is Wednesday morning, August 5th. The wind is light and cross-offshore, making it clean. The swell is tiny, just 0.6m from the SW, but it’s got a long 13-second period. Combined energy is moderate (182). It’s surfable, but only just. This one’s for the die-hards.

Things start to get interesting on Thursday morning, August 6th. The wind is still light and cross-off, and the swell bumps up to 0.8m from the SW, period around 13 seconds. The energy jumps to a moderate 376. It’s clean, and the forecast says ‘expect good surf conditions’. This is your first real session.

Now, Friday morning, August 7th, is the absolute standout. The wind goes glassy—dead calm. The swell is 0.8m from the SW, but the period is a very long 16 seconds. That’s pure groundswell, and the combined energy is a strong 614. It’s going to be clean, glassy, and the sets will have real power. For a point break like San Mateo, that long period is a dream. It’s an advanced wave and it’s inconsistent, so you gotta be patient, but when it lines up, it’ll be firing. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so a spring suit should be fine.

The weekend (Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th) gets messy again with cross and cross-on winds chopping it up. The swell is there, but the quality drops. The following week is a tease: the mornings are often cleaner with light winds, but the swell is small and the tides are tricky. The afternoons get blown out by a moderate cross-onshore breeze. You’ll see a few mornings around the 11th, 12th, and 13th with tiny, weak swells, but nothing to get excited about.

Looking into the second week, there’s a bit more size. The morning of Friday, August 14th, has a 1.1m SW swell, a 17-second period, and light cross-shore wind. The energy is a strong 734, but it’s called ‘marginal’ due to tide. The same goes for the morning of Saturday, August 15th—1.2m SW, 15-second period, but again, marginal. These are promising but less certain. You’ll need to be on the right tide to make it work.

Bottom line: your best bet is the morning of Friday, August 7th. Get there early for the glass, and you’ll be in for a treat. If you miss that, keep an eye on the mornings of the 14th and 15th, but watch the tide.

Rusty.

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