Croatan Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s have a look at what’s on offer for Croatan over the next couple of weeks.

Rusty here. To be honest, it’s looking pretty lean. The water’s running a bit colder than usual for this time of year, about 76°, which is a touch under – you’ll feel it. But that’s the least of our worries.

Things kick off from Wednesday the 29th, but don’t get excited. The swell is tiny, barely 2ft out of the SE with a short 7-second period. The combined wave energy is weak (45), and the wind is cross-offshore, which keeps it clean, but there just isn’t enough oomph. This flat spell drags on through the rest of the week and into the weekend. Thursday the 30th and Friday the 31st are even smaller – we’re talking around 1ft with hardly any energy. Saturday and Sunday are a write-off too, with messy onshore winds and next to no swell.

There’s a slight bump on Monday the 3rd of August. The morning shows about 3ft from the SE, period still short at 7 seconds, but energy climbs to 77. Wind turns cross-offshore, so it cleans up. The afternoon sees a touch more size, hitting 3ft with even better offshore wind from the WNW, and energy just cracking 105. The waves are surfable but nothing to write home about.

Things stay ordinary for the rest of the first week and into the second. We get a run of poor conditions with onshore wind and chopped-up surf.

Then, around Saturday the 9th of August, things finally get interesting. The morning brings about 5ft from the SE, period stretching out nicely to 12 seconds – that’s proper groundswell energy. The combined energy is a solid 659, which is moderate to strong. The wind is cross-shore, but it’s a moderate breeze so expect some chop. The afternoon holds similar size and period, shifting to ESE, with a lighter NNE breeze and still cross-shore. The energy drops a little to 567. This is the standout window – cleanest conditions of the whole outlook. The swell direction is from the ESE, right in the sweet spot for Croatan. The 12-second period means longer waits between sets, but better shaped waves. Keep in mind, though, with 5ft, it might be a bit heavy for beginners.

Monday the 10th sees the swell linger, with about 5ft from the ESE in the morning, period at 11 seconds, but the wind goes onshore, making it messy. Tuesday the 11th is similar – solid energy in the 400s but onshore wind spoils it.

After that, the swell fades and we’re back to small, clean but weak conditions through Wednesday and Thursday the 13th. Energy drops to the low hundreds.

If you’ve got a window, Saturday the 9th is your best bet. It’s not perfect, but that’s the closest we get to a decent wave in this forecast.

Stay tuned, it tends not to stay poor for long.

Rusty.

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