Coastguard Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break it down. I’m looking at the next stretch, and I gotta tell ya, it’s a real quiet period. We’ve got big gaps where there’s nothing worth paddling for, and even when the swell shows up, the wind or direction just plays games. The first couple of weeks are mostly a wash.

The only spot we have is Coastguard Beach. From Sunday, July 19th, all the way through to the morning of Monday, August 3rd, it’s all rated poor. That’s a solid two weeks with no real recommendation. You’re looking at tiny swell, mostly under 2ft, with weak energy readings in the teens and twenties – the combined energy barely hits 22 on the 19th. Winds are mostly cross or cross-off, but the swell is just too small and short-period to get excited about.

The first sign of something real hits on Wednesday, July 22nd. The morning brings a 3ft SE swell with a 9-second period, and offshore SW winds at 15 mph. The combined energy jumps to 162, which is moderate. It’s clean, but the report still calls it poor. That afternoon drops to 3ft but the period stretches to 11 seconds – a longer-period groundswell – and energy hits 149. The wind stays offshore, so the shape could be okay for a beginner spot, but it’s nothing special.

Then we get a spike from the 23rd into the 24th. Thursday morning the 23rd has a 3ft S swell at 9 seconds, with energy at 215, but the wind is cross-on from the NNE at 9 mph, making it choppy. The afternoon is 3ft but onshore, so forget it. Friday the 24th is small and cross-on again.

The real standout, if you can call it that, shows up on July 30th. Thursday morning brings a 5ft ENE swell with a 7-second period and combined energy of 250 – that’s moderate to strong. The afternoon bumps up to 6ft with 8 seconds and energy of 409 – that’s strong. The problem? The wind is cross from the south at 12-16 mph, creating a cross-chop. At 6ft, it’s getting big for beginners, but it’s not huge for experts. The swell direction is ENE, which is off the optimum SE direction for Coastguard, so it won’t break as well. The period is short, so it’ll be lumpy and fat. With the cross-wind and chop, this setup might look better for kite surfers than paddle surfers.

That pulse continues into Friday, July 31st, with a 4ft ENE swell, but the energy drops back to 215 in the morning and 179 in the afternoon. The afternoon has cleaner cross-off winds from the SSW at 12 mph, so that’s the best window of the whole run – a solid 4ft clean wave, but still not at the optimum direction.

Water temp is 67°F on the 19th, with an anomaly of only 0.3°F, so it’s dead average for the time of year – no surprises.

After that, it fades back to tiny, weak surf through the start of August. On Monday, August 3rd morning, we get a 4ft SSE swell at 6 seconds with energy of 90, and the report finally says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions” – that’s the only mention above a zero score in the whole run. The wind is cross-off from the NW at 9 mph, so it’s clean, but the period is only 6 seconds, so it’ll be weak and choppy.

Bottom line: The only day worth even checking is Friday, July 31st afternoon at Coastguard Beach, with a 4ft ENE swell and clean cross-off winds. It’s not a standout, but it’s the best of a very quiet few weeks. For everything else, save your energy and leave the board in the truck.

Rusty.

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