Apache Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you—Apache Pier isn’t firing right now. The whole 16-day window is a flat spell with nothing worth paddling out for. The waves are tiny, mostly around 1.0ft to 3ft, and the combined swell energy is weak, sitting between 14 and 55 units. There’s just no grunt in the water. The swell direction is mostly SSE or SE, and the periods are all over the place—short 4-second junk up to a longer 11-second pulse on the morning of the 2nd of September, but that’s still barely 1ft. It’s a beach-and-pier setup with an exposed sandbar, so when there is a little bump, the cross-onshore winds that show up most afternoons will chop it to bits.

Starting Thursday morning, the 27th of August, you’ve got a glassy 1.0ft SE swell, but it’s poor. That thin energy (23 units) just can’t hold a shape. Thursday afternoon gets a 12 mph cross-on from the SSW, making it messy. Friday the 28th has a slightly better 2ft S swell in the afternoon with glassy conditions, but the period drops to 5 seconds—that’s weak windswell, not worth a paddle. Saturday the 29th through to the end of the first week stays in the 1.0ft to 1ft range, with the odd glassy morning, like Sunday the 30th (WNW 0 mph) and Monday the 31st (WSW 3 mph). Those windows are clean but the waves are just ankle-biters.

The 2nd of September morning brings a 1ft SE swell with an 11-second period—that’s a longer period for this break, which can mean a bit more shape, but the combined energy is only 45 units. Still too small. After that, the second week runs through to the 11th of September with nothing breaking 3ft, and the few clean moments on the 4th, 5th, and 7th mornings are let down by tiny swell and weak energy. The 4th of September afternoon sees a 3ft SSW swell at 4 seconds, but with a 16 mph cross-on wind, it’s a washing machine.

There’s no standout in this entire outlook. If you’re desperate, the cleanest mornings are on the 30th of August, 31st of August, and 11th of September, with glassy or light cross-off winds, but you’ll be in less than knee-high slop. The water temperature is sitting at 83°F, which is about average for the time of year, no anomaly to get excited about. Honestly, for this setup with tiny surf and persistent afternoon onshores, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on the days with the 12–16 mph cross-ons. Don’t hold your breath—forecasts can change, but right now it’s a flat run.

Rusty.

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