Apache Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – this stretch of coast is looking pretty quiet for the next couple of weeks. There’s some rideable swell on the horizon, but it’s not going to be anything to write home about, and the wind is going to be a real pain most of the time.

The overall pattern is a whole lot of very small, weak swell coming from the south and southeast, often with a short period that just doesn’t have much push. The wind is mostly cross-onshore, which is going to leave the surface messy. The only real stand-out moment is a little window of glassy conditions, but even then, the energy is super low.

Apache Pier is the only break on the menu, and it’s a consistent spot, which at least means there’s *something* to look at, even if it’s tiny. The water is sitting at 84°F right now, which is about a degree and a half warmer than average for this time of year – feels nice for a paddle, but the waves aren’t keeping up.

For the first week, from Thursday 30th July right through to Sunday 9th August, it’s a real grind. The swell is consistently below 3ft, mostly from the south and SSE, with periods between 4 and 7 seconds. That’s junk. The wind is a problem – most days bring a moderate to fresh breeze from the S or SSW, creating choppy, lumpy conditions. Thursday 30th has a clean morning with a tiny 2ft S swell and light offshore NW wind at 3 mph, but it’s too small to do anything with. The real frustration is Monday 3rd August – the swell bumps up to 4ft from the S, with a moderate combined energy of 241, but it’s accompanied by a fresh 22 mph cross-onshore wind and risk of thunderstorms. That’s horrible. The setup is a sandbar, so with that much wind and a fat, short-period swell, it’s looking more like a kite-surfing day than a paddle-surfing one.

Into the second week, the pattern doesn’t change much. Tiny swell continues. The highlight of the entire 16-day run is Monday 10th August morning. The wind drops to glassy, with wind from the SE at just 3 mph, and the swell is 2ft from the south at 6 seconds. The combined energy is weak at 41. It’s surfable, but very ordinary. The glassy surface is the only thing making it worthwhile. There’s a bit of a clean-up on the 12th and 13th with some cross-offshore or offshore winds, but the swell is even smaller, down to 1ft to 2ft.

After that, it fizzles out completely. The last few days from 14th August onwards are just flat and not worth looking at. It’s a long, dry run for this area.

Stay patient, folks. The forecasts can change.

Rusty.

Read more