Waves draw crowds to SLO County beaches — and they’re expected to get bigger
San Luis Obispo County’s shores could get a bit gnarly this week.
According to the National Weather Service, the Central Coast could see waves of up to 25 feet through the end of the week, thanks to a rare high surf and tidal event.
The Weather Service issued a high surf advisory for the coast s San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties until 4 am. Thursday.
After that, a high surf warning will be in effect for the area through 10 a.m. Saturday.
The high surf advisory was issued due to large breaking waves of 10 to 15 feet with local sets up to 20 feet, the Weather Service said, while the high surf warning was issued in response to large breaking waves of 15 to 20 feet and local sets up to 25 feet.
Though the biggest waves weren’t expected to start arriving until Thursday, dozens of beachgoers and surfers flocked to the North Coast’s beaches on Wednesday to check out the scene.
Sean Kaiger, who was out surfing in Cayucos on Wednesday morning, said the 6-foot-high waves he was seeing were “a lot more manageable” than what is forecast for other local beaches this week.
“It wasn’t an all-time session or anything, but it was fun,” he said. “It’s been fun all week.”
National Weather Service issues coastal flooding warning for SLO County
Because of higher-than-usual tides this week, Kaiger said the surfing has been a “bit sketchy” in some areas such as Shell Beach, where the waves were breaking onto the cliffs.
Those tides are also a cause of concern for the National Weather Service, which issued a coastal flood warning for many Central Coast beaches, warning of the potential for significant flooding from Thursday to Saturday.
In its daily forecast, the Weather Service said astronomical tides are “running a few to several tenths of a foot above normal.”
That, coupled with the tides being at the peak of their monthly maximum, increased the risk of coastal flooding, the agency said.
“Overall, this has the potential to be an exceptional high surf and coastal flooding event that has not occurred in many years,” the forecast read. “Now is the time to prepare for potentially dangerous conditions materializing along the Southern California beaches.”
Kaiger said he plans to return to the North Coast on Thursday to check out the waves — though he probably won’t be surfing.
“It’s supposed to be smaller here, but probably too big for me to go out,” he joked. “We’re going to come back tomorrow and watch those waves.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2023 at 1:10 PM.
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