Tamarack Ave. Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, grab a seat, let’s have a yarn about Tamarack Ave. (Carlsbad).

First thing you need to know, the water is sitting at 72° – that's much warmer than normal for this time of year, so you can leave the thick steamer at home. Feels more like late summer.

Now, the bad news. Honestly, for the next two weeks, it's looking pretty grim. There’s a big ol’ gap right at the start with nothing worth paddling out for. The first week is just a write-off – we've got tiny little waves, mostly around 2ft to 3ft, and the wind is never truly your friend. It’s mostly a light cross-onshore breeze, which just messes up the already weak lines. The energy is weak, sitting between 186 and 385 – that’s just not enough punch for a proper ride. The period is mostly around 13 to 16 seconds, so there’s some long-period groundswell in there, but it's just too small and the direction is mostly off SSW, which isn't the optimum W direction for this exposed beach and jetty.

You’ll see the odd “marginal” tag on Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th, but with that small swell and that cross-onshore wind, you’d be scratching for anything worth a duck dive. It’s not even worth getting out of the car.

The second week, things don’t get much better. From the 25th onward, the swell limps along at 2ft to 3ft. The wind stays frustrating, mostly a light cross-onshore or onshore. The combined energy does creep up a bit into the 400s from the 28th into September, but the wave comment for every single session is either “poor surf conditions” or “marginal”. There’s a tiny window around the morning of Saturday, August 29th, where the wind is onshore, but the swell is only 3ft and it’s from SSW again. Hardly a standout.

If you are an expert and absolutely desperate, the only time the swell pushes past 3ft is on Sunday, August 30th, with 3ft from the SSW (period 15 seconds, energy around 474). But the wind is a cross-onshore or onshore at 15 km/h. For a beach and jetty setup, that’s going to be a messy, choppy mess. It looks more interesting for a kite session than a paddle.

Honestly, there are no true standouts here. The whole 16-day window is a blank run for any kind of quality surf. It happens. Best to save the wax for another time.

Rusty.

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