Taft (Siltetz River) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. Taft (Siltetz River) is the only spot on the table for the next 16 days, and I’m not gonna lie – it’s a tough stretch. The water temperature is sitting at 52°, which is a whopping 7° colder than normal for this time of year. That’s way out of the ordinary, so you’ll want a thick wetsuit and maybe some booties.

The outlook kicks off on Saturday, August 15, with small 2ft swell from the southwest, but the wind is onshore or cross-on all day, so it’s messy and not worth paddling out. That pattern sticks around through Sunday and Monday – tiny swell, cross-onshore winds, and the wave comment says “poor surf conditions” across the board. Tuesday and Wednesday aren’t any better, though the swell tries to bump up a little on Wednesday (3ft to 4ft from the WNW) but the wind is still cross or cross-on, chopping it up.

Thursday, August 20, has a little more size – 4ft to 4ft from the WNW, period around 11 seconds – but the wind is light cross-on, and the combined energy is moderate (569 to 604). Even so, it’s only rated as marginal. The best chance in the whole run looks like Friday morning, August 21. The swell drops back to 3ft from the WNW, but the wind goes glassy – just a slight air from the WNW – and the wave comment says “expect good surf conditions.” That’s a rare window of clean, lined-up waves, even if the size is small. The period is 10 seconds, so it’s a shortish groundswell, but with glassy conditions it’ll be fun on a longboard or a fish.

After that, it’s back to the struggle. Saturday the 22nd through the end of the month is mostly small, short-period junk (5 to 8 seconds) with moderate to strong cross-shore winds. The combined energy stays moderate but the wind is always wrong, creating chop or cross-chop. There’s a period from August 22 to August 30 where nearly every session is “poor surf conditions” – the only real highlight is that Friday morning window. The swell gets a little bigger around the 24th and 25th (5ft to 6ft from the NW), but with 6 to 8 second period and cross-shore winds, it’s more of a windswell mess – maybe better for kite surfing than a clean paddle session.

For a river mouth like Taft, the long-period swells (14 to 16 seconds) we see early on would normally be good, but the wind direction and quality just aren’t there. The Friday morning glass-off is your best bet – if you can get out, grab it.

Rusty.

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