Stinson Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's take a look at what's on offer at Stinson Beach over the next couple of weeks.

Straight up, it's a tough outlook. The water is sitting at a very unusual 61°F—that's a massive 5°F warmer than average for this time of year, so you can leave the 4/3 at home for a while. But the trade-off is the surf quality. We've got a lot of cross-onshore and choppy conditions in the forecast, and most windows are scoring poorly. There's not a single standout session across the whole 16 days that looks truly firing for paddle surfing. For the most part, you're looking at messy, weak options.

Let's break it down.

For the first few days, starting Wednesday the 22nd, we've got a SSW swell around 5ft but with onshore winds, it's messy. Combined energy is moderate at 556. That sets the tone. Through to early next week, the 23rd to the 27th, we see waves holding around 2ft to 4ft from the SSW and SW, but it's all cross-onshore from the WNW, and the energy is moderate to strong (347 to 1104). It's just not clean enough to get excited about.

We hit the 28th of July with a big spike—Tuesday morning has a 4ft SW swell with 1106 energy, but by Tuesday afternoon, it jumps to a short-period 8ft WNW swell with 1448 energy. That's a strong, lumpy mess with fresh cross-onshore winds. That's expert-only territory at best, and honestly, with those short 8-second periods and messy wind, it looks way more appealing for kite surfing than anything on a paddle board. The afternoon of the 30th is similar with a 6ft WNW swell and fresh cross-shore winds—again, lumpy and tough.

There's a brief window on Friday the 31st morning where the wind goes light and offshore from the W, with a 6ft WNW groundswell at 9 seconds. The energy is still moderate at 609. That's about the best we get, but it's still rated as marginal. For a brief moment, the combo of offshore wind and a bit of size might offer a cleanish wave, but it's inconsistent and the period isn't long enough to really open up Stinson's potential.

Heading into August, the 1st and 2nd have waist-high SSW swells with periods into the 14-15 second range and some offshore wind, especially Sunday the 2nd morning with a slight air (3 mph) from the W and 3ft of SSW swell at 14 seconds. Energy is strong at 732. That could be a sneaky clean session if the tide lines up, but the forecasts are still calling it marginal. After that, the 3rd to the 6th of August drop off into weak, short-period WNW and SSW swells under 5ft, with energy falling below 400. It's a poor end to the run.

No true standouts here, folks. It's a long wait for any kind of window, and even those are marginal. Keep your expectations low, and if the wind gods smile on you for a few hours on the 31st morning or the 2nd of August, you might snag a clean one. Otherwise, it's not looking good for Stinson.

Rusty, signing off.

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