Wednesday, May 20th, 2026

Tom's Wednesday Morning Swim - 

Hazy blue skies, mid 60s air temperature, and super low tide.  The water was comb with a 3 foot wave rolling in. The water temperature was mid 50s. Beautiful morning Swim. 

Tuesday, May 19th, 2026

Great Conditions and Hot Showers! - 

Hillary joined me for this mornings swim. We had great conditions; it was sunny, 57° and calm with 2 foot waves and a slight swell on the water. The water was 54° to 55° and not yucky but not as clear as it had been. After the recent fog it was so bright out there. We swam a reverse Yo-Yo on the west side of the Avila Pier for 3,402M. It was very nice out there.

Hillary does a lot of camping with her VW Westfalia camper van.  Today she showed me the set up she had for a hot shower. It is a CampLux Nano 3 Pro portable propane instant water heater. The heater runs on a 1# propane bottle to fire the burner and a built in rechargeable battery to run the pump.  She had a 5 gal water bladder in the van. In a matter of seconds she was rinsing off in 100° water. 

I'm going to talk to Santa because one of these would be so welcome next winter!

I'm swimming on Thursday and Saturday at 7.

niel 

Sunday, May 17th, 2026

Tom Lorish's Sunday Morning Swim - 

Blue skies, thin high clouds, and a pretty big swell. The swell was bringing in four to five foot set waves and there was a breezy chop on the water as well.  The water temperature was 52 in spots and 53 and 54 in other spots. It was a good morning a rough water swimming. 

Saturday, May 16th, 2026

It's Time To Start Sharing The Ocean -  

The harbor seals were back on Tuesday and on Wednesday there was a reputable sighting of a 12' white shark over at the Harford Pier, so the fauna of summer are returning and us swimmers need to begin sharing the ocean with them.

Tom Lorish spoke to a lifeguard today and provided the details of the sighting of the marine wildlife. It is unfortunate that that information is not posted anywhere. 

At 7 AM it was overcast with a bright horizon. The air temp was 49° and I measured a 55° water temp off of the Avila Pier. The surf was up with some 3 to 4 footers in the mix, there was no wind but there was a nice swell on the water.  The swell was a nice addition and gave some character to my swimming.

It was a solo Saturday for me with everyone else either out of town, concerned about big fish or had other things to do.  

One otter and some cormorants were the only marine wildlife I saw.       

Today Garmin served up another one of its weird plots that look like the watch kept losing and reacquiring its sync with the satellite. 

I didn't zig zag around like the trace and the pace plot (below) has me stopping and staring like the seismograph trace of an earthquake.  

This is all a post swim distraction. The swimming was great, the sun had come out by the time I was at the showers and it was a happy way to start my Saturday.

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

niel   

Friday, May 15th, 2026

Tom's Swim Report - 

Marine layer and high fog, glassy water with a small swell and the landlord is in town.  The air temperature was high 50s and the water temperature was 52 on the east side, and 53 on the west side. I didn't swim in the landlord's food bowl and the landlord let me be. It was a good swim.

Tom

The Beware of Marine Life signs are up at Avila Beach.  I have no additional information 

Niel

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

Flat Water, Fog and Seals -

For the first time in quite a while, I had a couple of seals for company this morning. A small harbor seal shadowed me for a while when I was near the base of the Poly Pier and another gave me a peak over by the reef buoy. It could have been the same seal. There are not many around in the winter so this may be a sign of the start of summer conditions.

I cropped the photo, it wasn't this close.

Avila Beach was still all gray this morning but by Thursday we should have a sunrise. The air temperature was 51° and the water was up to 55° and the visibility was better than it has been. As a trade off, the water between the two piers smelled fishy.  The surf was two foot with some three plus sets to keep it interesting. There was no wind and the water was glassy.

I swam over to the first crossbars on the Poly Pier out to the end, over to the reef buoy and back along the buoys to #1 and came in. 

The fog was up high so even though the visibility was fine the Poly Pier had their lane lines out. 

I've swum the length of the pier between the pilings and there is a optical illusion that makes it look like you can see the curvature of the earth in the water.    

I'll get in between 8 and 9 on Thursday and at 7 on Saturday. 

 

niel
    

Monday, May 11th, 2026

Tom's Monday Swim Report - 

Thick marine layer and high fog. The water was mostly flat with small bump and the temperature was 52, 53. It was a good Monday morning Swim. 

Saturday, May, 9th, 2026

The Saturday Group Swim Report - 

Paula, Jodi and Niel did a fog swim this morning. It was 52° and very gray.  The visibility was OK, but coming and going. It was calm, I measured a water temperature of 54° off of the Avila Pier, the surf was two foot plus and the water glassy but the clarity had falling off being particularly muddy on the east side of the Avila Pier.  

We did one of the 'fog routes'; buoy to buoy down the line on the east side from #1 to #4, back to #1, around the pier, down and back along the buoys on the west side, around the pier and down and back once more on the east side.

As we swam the fog was lifting and we had some sunshine at the showers.  The water temperature varied, my Garmin recorded water temps of 53° to 55°. I'm in my winter weight wetsuit (3.5/4.5) with booties (we all wore our booties today) so once the initial chill is past I'm comfortable. 

We spoke to a gentleman on the beach who paddleboards in Long Beach. The water temp there is 63° right now. He doesn't wear a wetsuit and when he winds up in the water he thinks it is cold. 

Niel, Jodi and Paula at buoy #1

While we were at #1 buoy the Harbor Patrol did a drive by. 

I'll be swimming at 7 on Tuesday, closer to 8 on Thursday and on Saturday with the Group at 7. 

niel   

Friday, May 8th, 2026

Tom's Friday Swim Report - 

Heavy cloud cover, flat and glassy water. Air temperature was high 50s and the water temperature was low 50s. And by low I mean 52 on the east side and spots of 53 on the west.  It was a good morning of cold water swimming. 

Thursday, May 7th, 2026

No Sun, No Waves, No Swell -

I got into the water at 6:50. There was fog this morning with the visibility varying between .5 and 1 mile. It was 53° and calm, with 2 foot surf and glassy 53° to 54° water. It was a degree colder on the east side of the Avila Pier than on the west side.

The only animal life I saw this morning were gulls. 

So I had a nice smooth 2 miles with a bit of sun when I was at the showers. 

When it is foggy the Poly Pier makes a pretty good lane line. 

I'll swim with the Saturday Morning Group at 7. 

niel

Wednesday, March 6th, 2026

Tom's Wednesday Morning Swim Report - 

Clear blue skies and beautiful. The water was flat and glassy and 53, 54°. The water clarity was crystal and it was a good morning Swim. 

Tuesday, May 5th, 2026

Around The Avila Rock - 

The Big Pool was wonderful this morning. I got in at 7. It was sunny and calm with 2 foot surf with an occasional pair of 3+ footers. The morning wind didn't come up so the water stayed glassy for my whole swim. The temperatures were 48° air and 53° water.  There was a minus tide at 7:38 so it was a short swim to the buoy line, a lot of Avila Rock was exposed and I had to swim further than usual away from the rock to avoid the kelp beds that were spread out over a wider area. 

At Avila Rock looking towards the Avila and Poly Piers and Port San Luis

 

Close to the rock cold(er) water from the bottom was being pushed up to the surface so it was a degree or two colder there.

I'll be back for more of this on Thursday and Saturday mornings. 

niel 

Monday, May 4th, 2026

Tom's Monday Swim Report - 

Blue skies, beautiful cloud formations, and the occasional 3 foot wave. The wind picked up during my swim creating a bumpy wind chop.  The air temperature was high 50s and the water temperature was low 50s.  It was another chilly nice Swim. 

Sunday, May 3rd, 2026

Tom L. and Some of the Poly Girl's W.P. Team Go Around the Rock - 

Blue skies and breezy.  The air temperature was high 50s and the water temperature was low 50s.  I had a group of my CP Water Polo girls with me and we swam around the Avila Rock. It was a excellent morning Swim.   

Saturday, March 2nd, 2026

It was just Niel and Jodi swimming today.  The conditions were great with no wind, flat water and 2 foot surf. The air and water temperatures were 55°. There was thick gray overcast so the water felt like 54°+/-. We swam out to the end of the Avila Pier and from there to one of the #4 buoys on each side of the Avila Pier. Two on the west side and one onthe east side made our two miles.  

Jodi and I are working on getting used to the initial chill from the mid 50's water temp.

When we arrived at the #4 buoy on the east side a pod of bottle nosed dolphins was 70M offshore from us heading east. Jodi saw them first and the sight of a fin on the surface got her heart rate up. 

The Arrowhead Route

Three trips from the end of the pier to a #4 buoy equals 3,200M

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

niel