Backdoor Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's get into it. This is Rusty.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you—this 16-day window is looking bleak. We’ve got a long, dry stretch of hardly any surf on offer, so don’t get your hopes up for any decent waves for a while.

The only spot on the map is Backdoor. It's a reef break, exposed to swell, and it’s looking for that optimum NW direction. The water temp is sitting at 81° with a 0.5° anomaly, so pretty average for this time of year.

For the first week, from Sunday the 23rd of August all the way through to Saturday the 30th, it’s a write-off. We’re talking tiny, knee-to-waist high junk, with swell heights barely hitting 2 ft and periods around 9-11 seconds. The combined energy is weak, sitting between 13 and 86, so there’s just no power behind it. The wind is a constant cross-off from the ENE at 15-19 mph, which keeps the surface clean, but there’s nothing to ride. It’s all “poor surf conditions” every single day.

There’s a brief flicker of hope on Monday the 31st of August. The swell bumps up to 5 ft from the NE, but look at that period—only 7 seconds. That’s short-period wind swell, all chop and no push. The combined energy hits 179, so it’s got some grunt, but the quality just isn’t there for a decent paddle. With those conditions and the reef setup, it honestly looks more interesting for kite surfing than for paddling out on a surfboard.

Then we crash again. From Tuesday the 1st of September right through to the end of the forecast on Monday the 7th of September, it’s back to flat or near-flat. Swell heights drop to 0.7 ft or nothing at all. There’s a little blip on the 7th with a 1 ft NW swell and a 12-second period, but with only 35 energy, it’s just not worth the paddle.

So yeah, it’s a tough run. The one standout, if you can even call it that, is the 31st of August morning at Backdoor if you’re desperate for something with a little push, but don’t expect any quality. Crowds are likely there, and with conditions like this, everyone will be scratching for a wave.

This is a blank run for the area. It happens.

Rusty.

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