Baldwin Beach Park Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you. The next couple of weeks are going to be a grinder. We’ve got a lot of onshore wind and messy, sectiony surf on the menu, with only a couple of windows that look worth paddling out for. We’ll start with the here and now, then work our way through.

Right now, and for the next several days, Baldwin Beach Park is looking rough. This Saturday morning, the 15th, we’ve got a solid 12ft of easterly swell, but it’s crossed up with a strong cross-shore breeze at 28 mph. The energy is strong, but it’s going to be a washing machine out there. Poor surf, plain and simple. It’s too big and blown out for the beginners, and even the experienced crew will be fighting it.

Sunday the 16th drops a bit to 8ft, but the wind stays cross and the period drops to 8 seconds, so it’s still junky. We go through a real flat spell from the 17th through the 25th. Waves shrink to under 5ft, often down around 2ft to 4ft. The energy levels drop right off. Not much to get excited about. The wind is mostly cross to cross-on, so even the smaller waves are going to be chopped up. This is a stretch where you’re better off doing something else.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. We start to see a pulse around the 26th of August. The swell direction shifts around to the east, and we start seeing longer periods. On the 26th, the period jumps to 19-20 seconds, but the waves are still small. The energy is picking up, though. By the 27th, we’ve got 5ft of east swell with a 17-18 second period. This is a proper long-period groundswell, but it’s still showing as marginal due to the cross-shore wind. This could be a fun one if the wind cooperates, but for now, it’s a “promising but not certain” situation.

That swell holds through the 29th, with 5ft waves and periods around 15-16 seconds. Energy stays strong. Then, on the 30th of August, the swell ramps up. We’re looking at 8ft with a 13-second period. That’s a solid, powerful wave, with strong energy. But at that size, Baldwin is only for experts. It’s a proper beast.

The standout window here is that late August push. The biggest, cleanest swell looks like it arrives around the 30th, but that means it’s more than a week away, so don’t book your flights yet. The earlier pulse on the 27th has better size and period, but the wind is still questionable. For the here and now, there’s nothing. It’s a blank run. But don’t get too down, because the forecast models are seeing something on the horizon, and a spot like this can turn on quick.

If the wind stays cross-shore and the swell gets big like that, this could be more of a kite-surfing showcase than a paddling session.

Stay tuned, surfers.

Rusty.

Read more