Topaz Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee, it’s Rusty here.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with ya – the next 16 days are looking pretty grim for a proper surf at Topaz Street. There are long stretches with nothing worth paddling out for, so don’t hold your breath. The whole window is plagued by close-to-onshore breezes and waves that just don’t have the goods.

We kick off with the best of a weak bunch on Wednesday morning, July 29. Topaz Street will see some small 3ft swell pushing in from the SSW with a long 16-second period, so there’s some push in it. The combined swell energy is moderate at 336. The real story here is the water: at 73°F, that’s a massive 7°F warmer than average for this time of year – very unusual, like stepping into a bath. But here’s the catch: the wind is a light cross-offshore from the SSE at 15 mph, which *should* make for clean, glassy faces. The forecast says “expect good surf conditions,” but with a wave that small and a break that’s inconsistent, you’re looking at knee-to-waist-high sliders. For a beginner, this might be a fun little splash, but don’t expect anything mind-blowing. Crowds? They’re often here, so you’ll have company.

From Wednesday afternoon onward, it’s a slow, choppy decline. The swell drops and the wind swings cross-onshore or directly onshore, making for messy, bumpy waves. Thursday the 30th and Friday the 31st offer small 2ft to 3ft SSW swell, but the period drops a bit and the cross-onshore breeze kills any chance of a clean line. The combined energy stays moderate – around 285 to 364 – but the quality is just poor.

Then we hit a real dead zone. From Saturday, August 1, right through to Wednesday, August 13, the swell drops to a pathetic 1ft to 2ft. Most days are blown out by onshore or cross-onshore winds, with moderate combined energy rarely crossing 170. There’s no saving this. It’s barely surfable, and even the cleanest morning (like Sunday, August 9 with a light cross-off) offers only knee-high dribblers. This is a dry spell, plain and simple. For this area, a blank run like this is more normal than exciting – forecasts can change, but right now there’s nothing on the horizon.

If there’s a stand-out in this sorry mess, it’s only that Wednesday morning, July 29. The clean conditions and warm water make it the only window where you might get a few fun, little waves on a longboard. Everything else is a write-off. The swell never gets over 3ft, so it’s fine for beginners, but experts will be bored stiff. With the constant onshore flow and small surf, this setup honestly looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer – there’s just no power in the ocean.

Rusty.

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