Half Moon Bay August

The above pictures were from June 0f 2013.

 

Suite! Mine were from March 2014. I need to figure out how you guys do the pics like that. I saw you learnt it on here recently.

 

When I was there in March it was like 50-55 if I recall.

 

Make no mistake, NorCal is *not* Costa Rica. If you don't have a lot of experience in cold rough waters with hella currents, do what LeetyMike808 suggests and surf the crowded but protected and gentle coves like Linda Mar.

Not a lot of good consistent surf in HMB, I would take that van and head north to SF or south to SC. When you see everything for yourself, you will understand.

Current forecast shows HMB water temps to be 56 degrees. I love approximately 3 hours south of the Canadian border, and our water temps are the same as HMB which is over 12 hours south of here lol.

Expect the water to be between 55 and 58 degrees. Watch for fkn cold water upwellings after prolonged strong NW winds, which may facilitate use of a hood.

 

This is spot on with the limited experience I have out there. There are a ton of spots to pull off and surf but I found the best quality and tolerable crowd in the Pleasure Point area of SC. I had a really fun session at "The Hook".

 

On a good day the water in march will be in the mid 50's. Santa Cruz will by far have the best waves. About an hour to hour and a half south from half moon bay. However super crowded. The whole town is right hand points tho. If you get one wave without being burnt its worth it.

I would avoid the city (San Francisco) because really the only easily accessible beach is ocean beach. And that can be a good 20min - hour paddle out. Weather conditions permitting of course.

 

I just looked back and saw you said August. Weather should be good. And you could still be catching south swells. Water may even be upper 50's. Sometimes if you're really lucky low 60's. Still wear at least a 4x3. Weather is usually the best aug-nov. So you could be in luck, and hopefully score. I'd still avoid the crowds of Santa Cruz and hit the spots inbetween. That's a long stretch of coast. And the set ups are a plenty. Just be ready for lonely and rugged.

 

I was visiting Santa Cruz this past winter. I surfed the hook on that rising swell (24 second period) on or around January 22. Holy crap! Firing right handers!

I did cruise through Half Moon Bay, but Mavericks wasnt doing it. Extra-long period groundswell was on the rise....it was starting to feather on the main peak but just not big enough swell yet. I did see a bunch of guys surfing a really fun wave on the other side of the inlet/harbor. Looked like a really fun beach break. Not sure the name of the break.

Earlier in the day I did see Ocean Beach absolutely pumping 12-15 ft+. What an amazing thing to see!

There are sooooo many little nooks and crannies to find a wave on the drive from San Fransisco to Santa Cruz. Endless possibilities...

 

Yeah man that wave was really fun. The hardest part for me was finding parking, took forever to find a spot.

 

Btw, the rental situation sucks out there, at least it did when I was there. Bring a boart if you can.