San Mateo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

The first decent shot of surf in the San Mateo area shows up on the morning of Wednesday, the 2nd of September. It’s a bit of a teaser, though, because the conditions get messy fast after that. We’re looking at a long stretch of afternoon onshores and cross-chop for most of the next two weeks, with only a few windows of cleaner stuff.

San Mateo is a point break, so it loves a good long-period groundswell. The opening morning on Wednesday the 2nd looks like the standout session. We’ve got a small 2ft swell pushing in from the SW, but the period is a solid 17 seconds – that’s proper groundswell energy. The wind is glassy, straight offshore from the NW, so your lines will be clean. The combined energy of all swells directed here is moderate at 389. This is a classic early-morning dawn patrol set-up before the seabreeze kicks in. Just a heads up, this spot can get crowded at times, so get in early.

The swell bumps up a bit on Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th, reaching 4ft to 5ft from the SW, still with those long 16-18 second periods. The combined energy climbs into the moderate-to-strong range (773 to 1173). The problem is the morning wind is cross-shore, not clean offshore. It’s rideable, but the quality is down. The afternoons are a no-go with that cross-onshore chop.

What’s really frustrating is the rest of the first week into the second week. From Saturday the 5th all the way through to the 17th of September, we’re looking at a daily grind. The mornings stay marginal with cross-shore winds, and the afternoons are just blown out. The swell stays small, hovering around 2ft to 4ft, with the period dropping into the 13-16 second range, so the energy is weaker. The combined energy drops to under 600 most days. There’s one morning on Sunday the 13th with a tiny 2ft, 19-second groundswell, but it’s so small and the conditions are just okay.

Honestly, if you’re looking for a decent paddle, that first Wednesday morning, the 2nd of September, is your only real bet. The rest of the 16-day window is a long, choppy grind. For the bigger swells on Friday the 4th, the wind is just too messy for clean surfing, but combined with the 5ft+ swell and the cross-onshore wind, it might actually look more interesting for a kite session than a clean paddle session.

Rusty.

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