Block Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s talk about Block Island.

First off, I gotta be straight with you—this stretch is a hard one. The finder turned up zero recommendations across the whole 16-day window. That doesn’t happen often around here, but when it does, you just have to accept it. The island is a fickle beast, and this run looks like one of those times where the stars just won’t align.

We start with a promising sign on Friday morning, August 14th. The water is a comfortable 72°, which is bang on average for this time of year—nothing unusual there. The swell is a tiny 1.0ft from the SE with a period of 9 seconds, and the wind is glassy from the SW at only 3 mph. That sounds clean, but there’s just no energy behind it. The combined swell energy is a weak 18, so it’s flat out there. Later that afternoon, the wind picks up and turns cross-on, messing up what little ripple there is. Saturday and Sunday are similar—small, weak, and onshore. It’s a tough start.

The first bit of real swell shows up on Monday morning, August 17th. We get 5ft from the south, but it’s coming with a 19 mph onshore wind and rain. That’s a messy, blown-out mess. The combined energy jumps to 221, which is a moderate pulse, but the wind kills it. By Monday afternoon, the wind switches to a strong offshore from the north at 19 mph, cleaning things up nicely. The swell drops to 5ft, still short-period at 7 seconds. The score is marginal at best. It’s a clean, punchy wave, but that short period means it’ll be a bit dumpy and hard to find a rhythm. For a surfer who can handle it, it’s the only real window of the whole period, but I wouldn’t call it a standout.

The rest of the week is a washout. Tuesday through to the end of August sees constant cross-on or onshore winds, tiny swell, and low energy. On Thursday the 20th, we get another 5ft pulse from the SSW, but again the wind is from the SSW, so it’s choppy and ugly. The combined energy is 184, but it’s wasted. By the 25th, we get 5ft from the SW again, but the wind is a fresh 19 mph cross-on, making it a lumpy, ugly mess that’s more suited to a kite than a paddle.

Right at the very end, on Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th, we get a little glimmer. The wind goes offshore from the NW, and the swell is a tiny 2ft from the SE. The period is 9-10 seconds, so it’s a clean, glassy little wave. The combined energy is 111 on Friday afternoon and 123 on Saturday afternoon, which is moderate. But 2ft is barely ridable, even with clean conditions. The north-west flow is offshore for Block Island, so the points will be clean, but you’ll be fighting for a knee-high wave.

Honestly, for this 16-day stretch, there’s no day I’d get excited about. The best of a bad bunch is Monday afternoon, August 17th, with that 5ft of clean, offshore surf. But even then, it’s short-period and not the quality you’d drive for. This is one of those rare blank runs for Block Island. It won’t last forever, but for now, I’d leave the boards at home.

Rusty.

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