Vilano Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let me tell you straight. It’s gonna be a frustrating stretch for the next couple of weeks here. We’re looking at a lot of small, weak, and generally poor surf for the foreseeable future, with a long flat spell that’ll test your patience.

The first real chance of anything that even resembles a wave doesn’t show up until Friday the 28th, and even then, it’s just barely surfable. We’re talking about a tiny bump of 2ft on the sets, coming out of the ESE with a short, weak 8 second period. The energy behind it is feeble, just 53 units of combined swell. There might be a few clean shoulders in the morning with a light WNW cross-offshore breeze, but the swell is so weak it’s barely a ripple. Then by the afternoon, the wind swings SE and chops it all up, pushing it to 3ft but the energy jumps to 225 units, which is moderate, but it’s still messy and inconsistent. It’s not going to be worth paddling out for unless you’re just desperate for a foam ball.

From there, it’s back into the doldrums right through to the start of September. The first few days of the new month are more of the same; small, weak ESE swells with cross-shore winds that just don’t do us any favors. It’s all sub-3ft stuff, with energy readings mostly under 100, not enough to push any real shape onto the beach. You’ll be waiting for sets that feel like they’re never coming.

Finally, on the morning of Thursday, September 3rd, the swell does start to pick up a little. We’ve got a 5ft NE swell rolling in, but here’s the catch – the period is a short, crumbly 6 seconds. This is more of a windswell than a clean groundswell, and with the glassy morning conditions, it could be a bit of a mess. The energy is moderate at 187, but the short period means it’s going to be breaking soft and bumpy. It’s the best we’ve seen in a while, but it’s still not good.

The morning of Friday, September 4th, is similar, with a 4ft NE swell and glassy conditions, but again, that 8 second period means it lacks the punch to wrap around the jetty properly. It’s more of a hope than a plan.

To be honest, this whole 16-day window is a washout. There is no standout day, no real swell, and no clean conditions aligning for a proper session. The water temp is 85°, which is about normal for this time of year, but that doesn’t make the lack of waves any easier to swallow. Don’t go selling your boards, but you might want to wax up your kite if you have one, because some of these afternoons with a cross-shore breeze and bumpy surf look more interesting for that scene than for a paddle.

Rusty.

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