Zeneta Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, surfers, Rusty here. Let's be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for Zeneta. We've got a serious dry spell on our hands. The guidance has it rated as a consistent break, but the forecast is mostly a whole lot of nothing for a good stretch. It's one of those times where you might be better off forgetting the board for a bit. The water's sitting at 71°, which is a bit colder than usual for this time of year, so you'll want the rubber regardless.

The first real chance of anything at all doesn't show up until the morning of Friday, August 14th. There's a pulse of 4ft NW swell with an 11-second period, but it's looking marginal at best with cross-onshore winds. Not what you'd call promising, just the first sign of life after a bleak start. The energy is still moderate at 293, so there's a little bit of push behind it.

The weekend brings a bit more size, but the quality just isn't there. Saturday the 15th sees the swell bump up to 5ft but the period drops to a short, jumbly 8 seconds. Sunday the 16th is a bit bigger again at 6ft, but it's still that short-period, wind-affected slop. The energy is ramping up into the 300s and 400s, so there's power, but it's messy power. This is junky, onshore, short-period stuff, not clean surf.

Monday the 17th is slightly cleaner with a light offshore in the morning and swell at 5ft from the NNW, but it's still rated as marginal. The more promising days look like Thursday the 20th and Friday the 21st. On Thursday the 20th the swell drops right off to almost nothing, but by Friday the 21st we get a push of 4ft with a lighter cross-offshore wind. Still short period though.

Honestly, the standout window, if you can call it that, looks to be the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd. Saturday the 22nd has 5ft of NNW swell and Sunday the 23rd has a similar 5ft, with a light offshore breeze forecast for the Sunday morning session. The energy is strong, hitting 395 on Sunday morning. But again, we're dealing with 8-9 second periods, so it's not going to be a thing of beauty. It's the best of a bad bunch.

From the 24th onwards, things just fade away again. The swell drops to under 3ft by the 25th, and we're looking at a long stretch of tiny, weak surf to close out the period. There is a brief uptick in the windswell direction forecast for Thursday the 27th, which is over a week out, with 4ft on the cards, but it's still short-period and looks poor.

So there you have it. A long, bleak outlook. The surf will be below average for the vast majority of the next 16 days. If you're desperate, keep an eye on that Sunday the 23rd morning, but don't get your hopes up. This is one of those blank runs that can happen, and with a break as consistent as Zeneta, it usually doesn't stay this bad for long. Forecasts can change.

Rusty.

Read more