Back Strands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, and I’m looking at the charts for the next couple of weeks. To be straight with you, it’s a pretty grim stretch. Most of the time, the conditions just aren't coming together. We’ve got waves showing up, sure, but the wind is playing havoc, and the quality is mostly, well, ordinary at best.

Let’s talk about the only real game in town: Back Strands. This reef setup is fairly consistent, but don't expect much action for a while. The first recommendation of any kind is a window Thursday afternoon, August 27th, with a tiny 0.5ft swell from the W at 9 seconds. The energy is weak, only 40 (combined swell energy), but the wind is glassy from the SE. The water’s a touch warmer than normal at 62°F. It’s pretty poor, but if the rain showers hold off, you might get a couple of knee-high sliders.

Friday through the weekend is flat with tiny, unrideable slop. Then we get a pulse of energy. On Monday morning, August 31st, things start to get interesting size-wise but messy. We get a 3ft W swell at 10 seconds with a moderate cross-onshore wind, making it choppy. The energy bumps up to 198 (moderate wave energy), but the chop is a killer. The swell builds through the start of September, hitting 5ft on Tuesday morning with a period of 9 seconds and an energy of 307 (now moderate). But again, it’s cross-onshore and messy.

There’s a tiny window of cleaner conditions on Wednesday morning, September 2nd, with a light offshore from the SE and a weak 2ft W swell. The energy is low at 51. It’s clean but tiny. Thursday the 3rd gets a cleaner cross-off shore wind with a 4ft W swell, but the wind is a fresh 19 mph, making it bumpy.

Now, here’s the standout in the whole run. On Friday, September 4th, a solid pulse arrives with a very long period groundswell of 8ft from the W at 13 seconds. The energy jumps to a strong 1862 (combined swell energy). However, the wind is a strong breeze from the WSW at 25 mph, blowing cross-onshore, making it a messy, lumpy mess. This wave has the power, but the wind is totally ruining it. This would be expert-only due to the size (over 8ft) and the rough conditions.

The real hidden gem, and the only thing I’d genuinely get excited about, is the morning of Sunday, September 6th. After the big messy swell passes, we get a 5ft swell from the WNW at 9 seconds with glassy, clean conditions from a light NNW breeze. Energy is moderate at 333. The forecast says "expect good surf conditions," and with those conditions, Back Strands for the first time in two weeks looks like it could be clean, surfable, and not a fight. That’s your best bet, but remember, it is still over a week away, so the long-range call is promising but not locked in.

After that, it drops back into small surf with poor winds for the rest of the run. We get a couple of days with clean cross-off winds around the 8th and 9th of September, but the swell is tiny again, around 3ft to 4ft, with a period of 9 to 12 seconds. Those are surfable but very ordinary.

For the most part, this isn't a paddle surfer's forecast. With all the strong, messy winds hitting the beach and reef setup for most of the two weeks, it looks like a better setup for kite surfing.

Rusty

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