Castles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s roll with what we’ve got. This is Castles (Castles-2), our only spot on the radar for this stretch.

Right off the bat, the water is sitting at 79°F with a 5°F anomaly – that’s much warmer than usual for this time of year. It’s a nice surprise, but it’s not gonna make up for the lack of decent surf.

The whole 16-day window is a pretty grim run. We’re looking at a long, dry spell with basically no real surf on offer. From Wednesday the 12th through to Sunday the 16th, it’s all poor surf conditions – tiny, weak, messy slop. Swell heights barely break 1.0 ft, and the combined energy is stuck in the single digits and low teens (9 to 64). Winds are mostly cross-on or onshore, and the period is short and weak. Not worth paddling out for.

Monday the 17th morning shows a little pulse: a 3 ft S swell (period 7 seconds) with NNW cross-off wind, giving clean surf. But the energy is still low at 92, and the waves are pretty ordinary. Better than nothing, but just barely.

We then hit another gap of poor conditions through Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th. The swell stays tiny, under 2 ft, and winds are messy. Energy picks up a bit Tuesday afternoon (128) but it’s onshore and onshore, so no good.

Thursday the 20th is a write-off – strong cross-onshore winds and a small, weak swell.

Now, Friday the 21st is the only real standout in the whole outlook. The morning brings a 6 ft S swell with a 7-second period, NNW cross-off wind at 25 km/h, and a combined energy of 286 – that’s moderate wave energy. Conditions are clean. This is the best you’re going to get. The swell direction is from the south, which aligns with the optimum SE direction for Castles. It’s a solid size for a sandbar, but with the period short, it’ll be a bit punchy and less organized. Definitely worth a session if you’re keen.

After that, it’s back to the doldrums. Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd are weak, small, and mostly onshore. The 23rd has a tiny 0.7 ft ESE swell with a very long 13-second period, and offshore NW wind in the afternoon, but it’s so small it’s barely a ripple.

The final week from Monday the 24th to Thursday the 27th sees a steady increase in swell size, but it’s accompanied by strong onshore winds and messy conditions. By Tuesday the 25th, we’ve got a 7 ft E swell (7-second period) with energy at 491, and Wednesday the 26th pushes 8 ft E with 588 energy. This is serious swell energy, but the wind is always cross-on or onshore, making it lumpy, choppy, and poor quality. For a sandbar, this setup is more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. Stick to the earlier Friday session.

So, the bottom line: Friday the 21st morning is your one clear window. Everything else is a bust. If you’re patient, it’s a good day to be out, but otherwise, this is a tough stretch for surf.

Rusty

Read more