The Wedge Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. The forecast is pretty grim for the Wedge over the next 16 days, and I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. The Wedge is an advanced breakwater spot that's fairly exposed to south-southwest swells, and it needs a decent combo of size and clean wind to really fire. For most of this run, we’re looking at small, weak energy and a lot of onshore or cross-onshore wind that’s gonna mess up the shape.

The water temperature right now is sitting at 75°F, which is a whopping 7°F warmer than usual for this time of year. That’s very unusual, so you’ll definitely notice the bathwater feel if you paddle out.

We start off on Saturday the 29th of August. The swell is 3ft from the SSW with a very long 17-second period. That’s prime groundswell energy, and the combined energy reading is 650 – that’s moderate to strong. The problem? The wind is 6 mph from the southwest, which is cross-on, and it’s only light, but it’s still enough to put a bit of texture on the surface. The morning session is marked as marginal, with a score of 1 out of 10. The afternoon sees the wind shift to west-southwest at 9 mph, still cross-shore, but the swell is 4ft with a 16-second period and combined energy of 681. It’s still only a 1 out of 10 though. Honestly, for an advanced spot like this, the conditions just aren’t lining up.

Sunday the 30th is worse. The swell drops to 3ft, period 15 seconds, but the wind goes onshore from the south at 9 mph in the morning. That’s a zero score. The afternoon is cross-on and choppy. No good.

From Monday the 31st through to Sunday the 13th of September, it’s a long stretch of very poor or marginal conditions. The swell sizes are mostly below 3ft, with periods ranging from 10 to 18 seconds, but the wind is almost always onshore or cross-onshore, and the combined energy values are mostly in the 200 to 600 range – weak to moderate. The scores are all zeros or ones. The occasional morning has light cross-shore winds, like Saturday the 5th of September with 3ft of SSW swell at 16 seconds and 647 energy, but it’s still only a 1. The sets will be there, but the quality is gonna be a mess.

There’s no standout session in this entire 16-day window. The best you could hope for is maybe a dawn patrol on Saturday the 5th or Sunday the 6th of September, when the wind is light and cross-shore, and the swell is around 3ft from the SSW with a long period. But even then, it’s not going to be The Wedge at its best. For an advanced wave like this, with the crowds often there, you’re better off waiting for a cleaner forecast.

The only real bright spot is the long-period groundswell energy that shows up on a few days, but the wind is just not cooperating. If you’re a kite surfer, the choppy, cross-onshore conditions later in the afternoons might actually look interesting, but for a paddle surfer, this is a tough run.

Rusty.

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