Long-Period South Swell Lights Up the Pacific This Week, Tropics Stir off Mexico
A clean New Zealand groundswell peaks midweek across California and Hawaii, a second pulse follows for the weekend, and forecasters are watching a tropical low set to form off southwest Mexico.
The headline this week is a long-period South Pacific groundswell. A gale near New Zealand has fired a clean, far-traveled pulse up the Pacific, and it's the kind of long-interval energy that makes summer worth waiting for.
In California, the swell builds Tuesday and peaks Wednesday, June 24, running around 17 seconds — roughly waist-to-chest-high on exposed south-facing breaks, and bigger on the standout south-swell magnets. South Orange County and San Diego sit in the best window; the long period means it filters into the region's points and reefs cleanly on the morning offshores before the afternoon onshore wind. It fades through Thursday.
Hawaii's south shores get their share too, with the New Zealand energy filling in Tuesday and a second, slightly larger pulse arriving Wednesday and peaking Thursday, June 25 — think shoulder-high sets on Oahu's south side. That second pulse swings into California for the following weekend (Saturday the 27th), keeping south-facing surf alive into next week. Far out in the swell window, Tahiti's reefs are squarely in the firing line, as they have been all month.
The periods are the tell here: 16–18 second readings mean organized groundswell that breaks with far more punch than its modest buoy height suggests. Favor the spots that face due south and handle a long-interval swell.
Meanwhile, the eastern Pacific is waking up. After an active start to the season — Amanda, Boris and Cristina all spun up earlier in June, with Boris coming ashore in Oaxaca on the 9th — forecasters expect a new low to organize late this week several hundred miles off the coast of southwest Mexico, with slow development possible as it tracks west-northwest. It's far too early to call a swell from it, but mainland Mexico and, given the right track, Southern California will be watching. A reminder that tropical surf comes with rip currents and rapidly changing conditions — check local advisories before paddling out.
Check the spot and region forecasts below for the hour-by-hour detail, and watch this space for updates if the tropical low gets its act together.