Castles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Imperial

Alright, it’s been a quiet stretch, but there’s a glimmer of life creeping into the forecast. Let’s get into it.

Mate, it’s been flat and pretty dismal for a while. We’ve had a long dry spell with nothing worth paddling out for until the tail end of the week. The surf has been small, weak, and messy with cross-shore winds and lumpy chop. But things start to turn around from Monday morning, July 20th. That’s our first real shot at a wave.

Now, the spot we’re looking at is Castles (a sandbar break). It’s fairly exposed to swell and works best when the swell is coming from the southeast. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so nothing unusual there.

Monday morning, July 20th is our standout. We’ve got a clean, 4ft south swell creeping in with a 9-second period. The combined swell energy is reading a moderate 186, and with a light breeze from the north, conditions are clean. This is the best on offer in the whole forecast. The crowds show up here sometimes, so you might have a few mates out, but it’s not going to be a circus. The swell direction is SSE, which isn’t the absolute optimum SE, but it’s close enough to wrap in and give you something fun to push into. The waves will be small and clean – good for a beginner on a foamie or anyone who just needs to get wet.

The afternoon on Monday goes a bit cross-onshore from the ESE, so the morning is the clear window.

From there, we go back into a slump. Tuesday July 21st through Thursday July 23rd morning is mostly small, weak, and choppy. But then Thursday July 23rd sees a big jump in size – 8ft to 8ft from the east – but it’s accompanied by strong cross-onshore winds and a very high combined swell energy (521-752). That’s a lot of power, but it’s messy, lumpy, and only for experts if anyone’s keen on a battle. For most of us, it’s a kite-surfing day, not a paddle day.

The rest of the month, through to the 29th, is a mix of moderate swell with cross-shore winds and onshore chop, never really coming together cleanly again. There are some mornings with cross-off winds and decent sized swell, like Sunday the 26th, but the period is short and the conditions are lumpy.

So, to sum it up: your one true standout is Monday morning, July 20th at Castles. It’s clean, small, and surfable. After that, it’s a gamble with wind and mess. Get it while it’s good.

Rusty.

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