Croatan Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it.

Honestly, it’s a pretty flat and messy stretch ahead for our stretch of coast. There are no real standouts on the cards, no days where you’d be mad to miss it. We’ve got a long gap of small, jumbled-up surf to start, and it doesn’t look like we see anything worthwhile for a while.

The water’s running a touch warmer than usual for this time of year, about 1° above the norm, sitting at 80°.

Looking at the first few days, it's all small and onshore. Tuesday afternoon, the 18th, has a hint of swell at 2ft from the southeast, but the east-northeast cross-onshore wind will chop it up. It’s a no-go. The 19th and 20th are even smaller, with nothing over 1ft. There is a glimmer on Thursday the 20th afternoon when the wind swings to the northwest as a cross-offshore and the surf is clean, but there’s just no energy to work with—only 1ft and a combined energy of 26. It’s a lake out there.

Friday the 21st is where the swell finally shows a pulse. We’re looking at 5ft in the morning, building a bit through the day, from the northeast. The period is a weak 5-6 seconds, so it’s messy. That’s a combined energy of 134, which is moderate, but with the east-northeast and then easterly onshore winds, it’ll be lumpy and uninviting. This isn't the one.

The weekend is another letdown. Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd drop back down to 1ft or less. There’s a brief window Saturday afternoon with glassy conditions and the surf is clean, but with 1ft on tap, it’s barely a ripple. Maybe a chance for a longboard if you’re desperate, but it’s not worth the paddle.

Monday the 24th is the same story, tiny and clean in the morning, but we scrape a 1/10 score for "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions." That’s about the best we’ll get for a while.

The whole week that follows is a bust. Small, onshore, and unremarkable. We see a bump on Thursday the 27th with some 4ft windswell from the south-southeast, but the cross-onshore wind will turn it into a mess. Friday the 28th is similar with 4ft, but again, it’s choppy. The combined energy is up around 150, but with that terrible period and poor wind, Croatan will be a washing machine.

We finally get another crack on Saturday the 29th morning. The swell drops to 2ft from the southeast, but the wind swings to a light southwest cross-offshore, leaving it clean. Still, with only 63 combined energy, it’s marginal at best.

Things look bleak right through the 30th and 31st, with nothing over 2ft and all of it cross-onshore. The first of September doesn’t offer any salvation, and by the 2nd, we have 15 mph easterly winds and 3ft of slop. It’s a closed-out, blown-out mess.

So, there you have it. A long stretch of days with no real surf. Croatan is a beach and jetty set-up, and with these onshore winds and tiny swells, the conditions look more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer. The lack of any consistent, clean swell is a real bummer for the area. Forecasts can change, but as it stands, you’d be better off finding something else to do for the next couple of weeks.

Rusty.

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