San Francisco.
Now
· updated 12 hours agoThe week begins with a small, long-period southwest swell around 1m at 17-18 seconds under glassy to light northwest winds, holding steady through Monday. Mid-week sees a building wind-northwest swell, reaching 1.2-1.3m at 7-13 seconds with moderate wind and heavy wind-sea chop, before easing slightly Friday. A fresh pulse builds over the weekend, peaking Saturday at 1.2-1.5m from the west-northwest at 7-8 seconds under moderate northwest winds, then gradually fading into early next week with light winds and a slight south-southwest influence emerging by Wednesday. Looks like Saturday dawn under glassy conditions will be the best window for the initial swell, while Saturday evening may offer the best energy for the later pulse before winds increase.
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About San Francisco
San Francisco surfing comes down to three waves at the mouth of the bay. Ocean Beach runs 5.6 km of open-coast beach break from Cliff House south to Sloat. Fort Point is a left under the Golden Gate Bridge, peeling off the Presidio rocks when the swell wraps through the Gate. Mavericks is half an hour south at Pillar Point, a deep-water reef that fires only on the biggest winter swells. Kelly Slater won his eleventh world title at Ocean Beach in 2011, the only mainland US final on the modern tour.
This is a winter coast. The North Pacific storm track delivers west to northwest swell from November through March. Ocean Beach needs 12 s to work, Mavericks 14 s. Heights run 0.8 to 4 m on the buoy at the beachies, 5 m+ when Mavs is on. The classic offshore is east; the afternoon westerly breaks the wave apart. Summer drops to small wind swell, and the fog rolls in for weeks.
Water sits at 13 °C every month of the year. A 4/3 with hood and booties from October through June. Crowds spread across kilometres, but the rip at the inlet throat exceeds 2.5 m/s and will pull you out before you notice. The 1998 winter killed seven people in the water. White sharks pass through. Mavericks is expert only in practice. Pick the spot for the day: Fort Point on the wraps, Ocean Beach on the angle, Mavs only when you’ve earned it.