Thursday, August 6th, 2026

Niel's Thursday Morning Swim - 

The conditions this morning were perfect for swimming; the air and water temperatures were 61°, there was no wind and the water was clean, glassy and smooth. The surf was 1 foot+ and I had the entire Big Pool to myself, there were no crowds, no lane lines no chlorine and no turns.   

I swam down the west buoy line, decided to swim to the end of the Avila Pier, then over and back to the second crossbars on the Poly Pier and then over and back to the third crossbars. That put me at 2 miles and I came in. 

I'll swim with the group on Saturday at 7. 

niel

Tuesday, August 4th, 2026

Sharks Can't Read - 

The shark signs were back up this morning. I do not have any reliable information about how or why the shark warnings are posted, so I'm with Tom L., sharks are always here in some numbers so I'll keep swimming, be aware and cautious and do more research. 

The conditions at Avila Beach are pretty stable making for great swimming; there is heavy overcast in the mornings with good visibility, occasional fog, clean and glassy water, no wind, one to two foot surf and a water temperature of around 60°.   

This morning the water was 59° near the Avila Pier and 61° near the Poly Pier. I swam along and around the ends of both piers. 

Tom Israel participated in a six person relay crossing of the Catalina Channel this morning. They began last night at about 10PM and swam from Camp Emerald Bay on Catalina Island to Portuguese Bend. Their time was 10:48:57. The water was about 70° and calm. 

There should be a photo of the team and crew here but Blogspot is still being selective about which photos it will add to a post. 😠

I'll swim Thursday and Saturday at 7

niel

Monday, August 3rd, 2026

Tom's Monday Swim Report - 

Marine layer, glassy warm water, and beautiful swimming. That was Avila at 945 AM this morning.  The air temperature was low 60s and the water temperature was low 60s as well. It was a beautiful morning Swim. 

PS. The shark signs were no longer posted. Does that mean the sharks are no longer there? Of course not, they're always out there. They live there. 

Sorry, but I couldn't include Tom's photo in today's post.  Google has done some 'upgrades' to Blogspot and now a photo uploads but doesn't appear in the blog.  I assume that they will get this sorted soon.    niel   

Saturday, August 1st, 2026

All Foggy, Half Sharky - 

Paula, Jodi and Niel at the Avila Pier

Paula, Jodi and Niel got in the water a bit after 7. The swimming conditions were excellent; the air temp was 55°, the water temp was 62°!, there was thick overcast with visibility of 1/4 to 1/2 mile, no wind, 2 to 3 foot surf and a one foot SW swell. There are four of the wildlife/shark warning signs between the stairs we take down to the beach and the showers. Two of them were folded up (no warning) and two were unfolded, showing the 'Beware of Wildlife' warning. So I guess that it was a half sharky day.  

We decided that the appropriate level of caution given a half sharky warning was to not swim to the end of the Poly Pier, which makes no sense but what are you going to do? Our route took us around the reef buoy, to the end of the Avila Pier, to the third crossbars on the Poly Pier, in along the pier to the second crossbars, stayed to the right of the kelp beds and the otters at the base of the Poly Pier, came in to the buoy line and at the pier decided to add a bit more by swimming around the pier before getting out.

There was no sun when we got out so we hurried through our showers and headed off to the rest of our days. 

This coming week I'm planning on swimming at 7 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

niel

Friday, Jult 31st, 2026

Tom Lorish's Friday Swim Report - 

Foggy, foggy, and a slight breeze blowing from the southeast. The shark signs were still posted due to a sighting off the CPP on Wednesday late afternoon.  The water was beautiful, and the swimming was excellent. 

Thursday, July 30th, 2026

Sitting Out This Morning - 

I saw the sharky sign as I was walking down the stairs. I usually swim when the sign is up but this morning with the fog I did not feel good about getting in the water. I walked over and checked the bulletin board at guard shack. There was no additional information about a shark sighting. I walked back to my car and came home.

Tom L was planning on swimming mid morning and was going to check with the guards. I'll post what he learns. 

I'll be back on Saturday morning at 7. 

niel

Tuesday, July 28th, 2026

Fog Swim - 

There was not much to see this morning. The fog was in but once I was at the first buoy I could see the second and from the fourth buoy I could almost see the end of the Avila Pier so a couple of triangles was a good route this morning. The air temperature was 54° and the water was 60° to 62°. The water conditions were very nice. With no sun the water did not feel like 60° when I got in and swimming into water that was one to two degrees colder got my attention. The surf was 2 foot plus, the water was clean and there was a one foot swell out of the SW that put gave the water some character. 

It had not yet begun to clear when I was at the showers.  The clouds would need to burn off soon if Avila was going to make it to 84° today.  At that those air and water temperatures swimming in the afternoon would be lovely. 

If it is foggy Thursday morning I'll consider swimming out and back along the Poly Pier. 

niel

July 25th, 2026

The Saturday Group Swim - 

Niel, Eileen and Paula tying off their bottles to the buoy, Tom and Jodi

 

We had wonderful swimming conditions this morning. At 7AM there were thin clouds, no fog with the promise of sunshine. The air temp was 62°, the water was 62°, there was no wind, the water was flat and very clean with a noticeable swell. The surf was 2 to 4 foot. 

The plan was for all of us to swim to the rock and back with additional distance planned for Jodi (her birthday swim), Tom (Catalina Channel Relay on 8/3), Paula (Avila to Pismo on 8/23) and Eileen (Horsetooth Reservoir 10k on 9/13). Me, I'm recovering from a great vacation that included too much sitting and not my usual amount of activity. 

Niel

Jodi

Eileen

6,500M

Paula

6,500M

This coming week I'll swim on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7.

niel

Friday, July 14th, 2026

Tom Lorish's Morning Swim - 

The conditions were very mellow at Avila this morning… Except for the parking. The parking vultures were going at by 915 AM.  The air temperature was a mellow low 60s, the water was glassy and mellow and the water temperature was a mellow 59°.  It was a lovely mellow Friday morning swim. 

Thursday, July 23rd, 2026

Back In The Water -

I got back in the water this morning after a week on vacation. I was looking forward to getting the kinks out of my shoulders and back from the sitting that came with traveling and a different routine.

The fog was in and was thick, It was 58°, the water was 60 to 61°, the surf was 2 to 3 foot plus and there was no red funk. Tom Lorish told me that the surf was much larger yesterday.

I started out on the left side, swimming buoy to buoy and out to the end of the pier. It seemed like the fog was lifting so I swam towards where the 4th buoy on the west side would be.  I found the buoy, swam to the pier and back to the end of the Avila Pier and came in. When I was at the showers the fog was thinning but had not lifted. 

I'll swim Saturday at 7 with the group.

niel        

   

Tom's Monday Morning Swim -

Foggy, bumpy water, kelp stew, and a dreadful jet ski.  There is only one thing that makes me more uncomfortable in the ocean than seeing a knucklehead jet skier, and that's a drunk knucklehead jet skier. I don't think this guy was drunk, but he was knucklehead and he was out chopping up the water just outside the buoy line. Not what I wanna see on a foggy day or any day here for that matter.  The good news is I haven't seen any of that for a long long time, so hopefully it'll be another long stretch of time before I see another one.  The water felt about 57° and it was a short buoy line swim. 

Saturday, July 18th, 2026

The Saturday Morning Swim - 

Jodi, Clare and Tom Israel swam in 59 to 60 degree water.

Lots of swimmers traveling. 

I'll swim on Thursday morning, the 23rd at 8.

Friday, July 17th, 2026

 Tom's Friday Swim Report - 

Overcast, funk free and a minus high tide. The water was slightly bumpy, and about 59°.  Excellent Friday morning Swim. 

Thursdy Morning Swim Report

Tom's Report -

Sunny and blue, a slight breeze, and no funk water. Gorgeous morning at Avila. The air temperature was low 70s and the water temperature was high 50s. Conditions were excellent all around and the swimming was very nice. 

Tuesday, July 14th, 2026

The Tuesday Morning Swim Report -

Jim was in town so it was a twosome this morning. It was beautiful in Avila; 60°, sunny and  calm with a flat and glassy ocean with 2' surf. The red tide was in near the shore on both sides of the Avila Pier with some spots that were almost clean. The water was nice between the 4th buoy on the left side and Fossil Point.  Between there and the Poly Pier is was very nice as long as I was outside of the end of the Avila Pier, closer to shore anywhere between Fossil Point and the Poly Pier the water funked up. 

On the upside the water was warm, 59° - 60° on the east side of the Avila Pier and 60°- 61° between the Avila and Poly Piers. As we were gettin gin there was a pod of dolphins well offshore heading towards Fossil Point.  

We swam down the buoy line and over to Fossil Point. The leg from the point to the Poly Pier is about 1,400M. Jim's shoulder suggested that he go when we neared the Avila Pier.   

Niel and Jim at Fossil Point

I was midway in along the Poly Pier when I took this photo of the Avila Pier and the clouds on the headlands. 

And a heron checking out the layout of the morning brunch.

From the second crossbars back to the buoy line I kept to the right and jogged around a anchored sail boat.  As I was swimming along the buoys towards the Avila Pier something that was swimming parallel to me came up on my right.  I first thought that it might be a dolphin but it was an otter, backstroking past me.   What a showoff!  I reached for my camera but that was too much attention, it rolled over and dived. 

I'm leaving on vacation so my next swim at Avila will be on Thursday the 23rd. 

niel