Crab Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, I’m staring at the charts on the wall here at the shop, and I gotta be straight with you… this run for Crab Island is looking pretty tough. The next few days are going to be a frustrating grind, but there might be a few tiny windows if you’re desperate for a paddle.

The whole 16-day outlook starts with a whole lot of "poor surf conditions" slogged out by fresh cross-off and cross-shore winds. For the first several days, from the 15th right through to the 21st, the waves are there but the quality is junk. That combined swell energy is bouncing around between 200 and 475 (moderate wave energy), but it’s mostly short-period 7-second windswell getting chopped up.

The water temp is sitting about average for this time of year.

Thursday the 17th will see a bump up to 6ft from the WSW, also short period, but still, with a moderate cross-off, it’s just messy. That’s probably too much size for beginners with that wind and short period, anyway.

Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th continue the trend of lumpy, cross-shore chop. Not worth rushing out for.

Now, the real sparkle in this whole outlook, the one true standout, comes on the morning of Wednesday the 16th of September. The swell is 5ft from the West, the period jumps to a nice 10 seconds, giving it some real push. The combined energy hits 371 (moderate wave energy). But the best part? The wind is a clean offshore from the NW at 18 mph. That will groom the reef nicely. It’s fairly consistent here, so expect some sets. Keep in mind, it’s a reef break, and the optimum swell direction is SW, so this W swell should still line up nicely. This is your best shot for a clean session, but it’s still just a 1/10 rating, so it’s marginal—more of a fight to find a good one.

After that, the energy just falls off a cliff. From the 21st of September onward, there’s a massive 9-day gap where the surf drops below 3ft and stays small. The energy drops to "weak", down in the double-digits (20 to 85). There are a couple of moments like the morning of the 22nd of September where it goes glassy with 2ft from the WSW at 10 seconds (energy of 102), and the 25th of September afternoon where it’s glassy with 2ft from the W with a long 13-second period (energy of 130). Those are "surfable but very ordinary" conditions. The 13-second period there could give a clean wrap, but the size is tiny. For a reef, that long period could work well, but you won’t be doing much more than groveling. Those are your only other chances to get wet.

So, the best of a bad bunch is the Wednesday morning, the 16th. For the rest, you’re waiting over a week for tiny, glassy dribbles if you’re that keen. It’s looking flat for the most part. Forecasts can change though, so keep checking back.

Stay salty.
Rusty

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