Week of 12/30 – 1/5/25
Well I hope you all had a great Christmas and that you’re ready for the New Year. I told you that I’m stepping up my game over here. It’s time to take this shit (kinda) serious. Otherwise I’m just wasting time; yours and mine.
With that being said, today’s Monday. It’s not quite 2025 yet, but it’s 2 days away. So we’re starting early. The new routine is that on Mondays, I’ll give you a brief recap of the previous week, and a little rundown of the week to come. An itinerary, or Shred Schedule, if you will. The rest of the week will be filled with other fun stuff. You’ll see. But for today, let’s see what we’ve got in store for the start of the New Year.
WAVES –
Now, I’m not an official forecaster. That much is established. But I have brushed up a bit on my chart reading. I’ve paid more attention to the waves and the way the ocean is moving. And I feel pretty strong about looking at the buoys and being ready for the next day or week to come.
I’ll just drop my thoughts of what this week looks like, and what I’ve seen in the water recently. Keep in mind I’m in Huntington Beach, so this goes mostly for the Orange County area – for now.
Today (Monday) was fun, but the tide was really high early. It’s dropping all day to a negative low this afternoon. The rest of the week is similar in terms of tide extremes, so plan around that – High in the morning and Low in the evening.
There was some size today, and there is swell all week. Waves should be at least in the chest – shoulder high zone, some spots bigger. The pier was maybe head high today, just slopey and soft. We’ve been having pretty direct W swell, but it’s clocking to a SSW on Wednesday and Thursday, with a new prominent S building over the weekend. South of HB has been smaller, but that could shift this week. I’m expecting some peaks, rather than the lined up surf we’ve been having.
Lineups are still crowded with schools wrapping up their Holiday breaks this week. There are enough waves that you should be able to find an open window somewhere. People are surfed out. It’s been nonstop for a couple of weeks now. Afternoons have been glassy. It’s been quite a run. And it aint stopping yet. Get out there. Report back with anything you’d like to share.
CONTESTS –
Nothing major yet. The WSL is on hiatus until January 20th.
The NSSA is opening its Southwest Explorer Season with events 1 & 2 on Saturday & Sunday at Southside of Huntington Beach Pier.
That’s it.
EVENTS –
Tuesday 12/31 –
New Years Eve, big night out. If you don’t already have plans, there’s a big party you can go to. And surf at. That’s why I’m telling you about it. Check it out.
Palm Springs Surf Club New Years Eve Bash.
$400 you get a surf (not sure how many waves?) Dinner, and a party with a DJ? Kinda rad. If I was a wealthy man, I might be out there.
Oh yeah, you can bring your significant other too. There’s separate tickets for just the party, or dinner and party, or just dinner, whatever you’re feeling.
Saturday 1/4/25 –
T.S.O.L. is playing at the Observatory in Santa Ana. They played at a recent HB Boardriders event and I heard they kinda killed it.
Long Beach Dub All Stars at the Wayfarer. Playing with Capital Dub and Pool Surfers.
There you have it. Couple things to get you started off in 2025. Mostly it should be the waves. Go surf. Then surf again in the afternoon. Check some new spots. Find a zone to surf by yourself. Make a checklist of new waves to surf. Keep track of how many days you surf this year, and break that amount in 2026. This year I surfed 158 days. My goal for next year is no less than 175.
Let’s hear your surfing resolutions for 2025 below.
Cheers,
hwilsin