Surf Forecasts:
Croatan surf forecast from 7 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Thursday 9 Jul, 11PM (local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 8s period, ENE swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Monday 13 Jul, 8PM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.4m), 6s period, ENE swell with 135 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Thursday 9 Jul, 11PM (local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 8s period with ENE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Croatan this week:
The surf forecast for Croatan over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Thursday (Jul 09) at 11PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.6m and 8s period with a secondary swell of 0.2m and 8s. Another secondary swell of 0.7m and 4s is also forecast. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Croatan in the next 16 days are 1.4m 6s and forecast to arrive on Monday (Jul 13) at 8PM. Winds are predicted to be onshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.8m 4s period and expected on Saturday (Jul 11) at 8AM.
| Wave Type | Time (EDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 11PM (Thu 9th Jul) | 2ft (0.6m) 8s |
| Best Surf | 11PM (Thu 9th Jul) | 2ft (0.6m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 8PM (Mon 13th Jul) | 4.5ft (1.4m) 6s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Croatan over the next 16 days.
Alright folks, it's Rusty here. Look, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it; the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for a proper paddle. We’ve got a long, flat spell on our hands, so don't get your hopes up for any hero moments just yet.
The first surfable, but very ordinary, conditions show up on Friday morning, July 10th, at Croatan. It's a beach/jetty setup, exposed to the swell. We're looking at a tiny 2 ft of swell coming from the SE, with a short period of 8 seconds. The combined swell energy is weak at just 47, so it's lacking any real push. The water here is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year at 79°. The saving grace is a clean, gentle offshore wind from the W, which will keep the surface smooth, but honestly, it’s barely surfable. It’s one for the beginners to bump around on a foamie, but even then, you’ll be scratching for anything.
After that, we slip back into a long quiet period. You’ll see a little bump in the combined energy around Monday, July 13th and Tuesday, July 14th, hitting 117 on Monday afternoon from an ENE swell, but the wind is straight onshore from the E at 12 mph, making it a choppy, blown-out mess. Not worth a second look.
The next time we see any kind of improvement is on Wednesday, July 15th. The morning session shows that same offshore W wind, this time at 9 mph, cleaning up a weak 2 ft swell from the E. The combined energy is still low at 58, and the period is a short 8 seconds. It’s surfable, but again, very ordinary. This setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer given the low swell and steady cross-shore winds that follow.
The rest of the fortnight is a write-off. Thursday, July 16th, gets glassy in the afternoon with a 1 ft swell, but there's no power. The final sniff of a clean-ish window might be Wednesday, July 22nd, with a strong cross-offshore wind from the SW cleaning up another 2 ft SE swell, but it’s a long way out and the energy is weak. For this region, a blank run like this isn't too unusual; forecasts can change, but right now, there’s nothing to get excited about for a solid paddle.
Keep the board waxed and wait for the next system.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 21mm), heaviest during Tue night. Warm (max 30°C on Thu afternoon, min 23°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Warm (max 35°C on Fri afternoon, min 24°C on Sat night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tue 7 | Wednesday 8 | Thursday 9 | Friday 10 | Saturday 11 | Sunday 12 | Monday 13 | |||||||||||||||
PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ESE 10 | SE 9 | ENE 5 | ENE 6 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | SE 8 | NE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | NE 6 | ENE 6 | SE 10 | ENE 5 | ENE 5 | ENE 6 | E 6 | ENE 7 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 18 | 21 | 35 | 47 | 68 | 55 | 56 | 38 | 29 | 15 | 30 | 23 | 10 | 33 | 39 | 33 | 58 | 73 | 97 | 104 | 91 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | on | on | on | on | cross-on | cross-on | on | off | off | cross-off | off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-on | on | cross-on | on | on | on | on | cross-on |
High Tide | 2:00AM0.89m | 2:43PM1.10m | 3:00AM0.86m | 3:43PM1.15m | 4:05AM0.86m | 4:45PM1.21m | 5:10AM0.88m | 5:46PM1.27m | 6:12AM0.92m | 6:44PM1.32m | 7:11AM0.97m | 7:40PM1.34m | 8:07AM1.02m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 8:15PM0.16m | 8:19AM0.01m | 9:14PM0.13m | 9:12AM-0.01m | 10:16PM0.09m | 10:09AM-0.02m | 11:19PM0.05m | 11:09AM-0.05m | 00:21AM-0.00m | 12:10PM-0.09m | 1:19AM-0.05m | 1:10PM-0.12m | 2:12AM-0.10m | ||||||||
 |  |  |  |  |  | | | | |  | | |  | | | | | | | | |
 | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:54 | — | — | 5:54 | — | — | 5:54 |
 | 8:24 | — | — | 8:24 | — | — | 8:24 | — | — | 8:23 | — | — | 8:23 | — | — | 8:23 | — | — | 8:22 | — | 8:22 |
mm | 3 | 14 | — | — | 1 | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 27 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 30 | 35 | 35 | 26 | 28 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
Feels °C | 30 | 28 | 25 | 25 | 27 | 30 | 33 | 32 | 30 | 36 | 34 | 24 | 28 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 24 | 23 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ESE 10 | SE 9 | SE 9 | SE 9 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | SSE 5 | SE 8 | NE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | NNE 5 | NE 6 | SE 10 | SE 10 | SE 10 | ESE 9 | ESE 10 | ESE 9 | SE 5 |
| kJ | 18 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 68 | 55 | 56 | 21 | 29 | 15 | 30 | 23 | 10 | 33 | 14 | 33 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 8 | 7 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSE 6 | E 13 | S 6 | E 10 | SE 9 | ESE 9 | ESE 8 | ENE 8 | NE 8 | SE 8 | ENE 8 | E 9 | SE 8 | ESE 9 | SSE 6 | — | — | SSE 5 | SSE 5 | SE 8 | ESE 9 |
| kJ | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 38 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 3 | — | — | 2 | 2 | 18 | 8 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | NE 7 | E 10 | E 12 | E 12 | E 12 | S 6 | SE 6 | SE 8 | E 10 | ESE 9 | E 9 | NE 7 | NE 7 | SSE 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | NE 4 | ENE 5 | ENE 6 | SE 4 | SE 4 | SE 4 | WSW 2 | WSW 3 | SW 3 | W 3 | NNW 4 | — | SE 3 | ENE 6 | E 4 | ENE 5 | ENE 5 | ENE 6 | E 6 | ENE 7 |
| kJ | — | 19 | 35 | 47 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 22 | — | 1 | 39 | 28 | 58 | 73 | 97 | 104 | 91 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 2892 | 138 | 242 | 593 | 210 | 46 | 761 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 317 | 294 | 417 | 242 | 484 | 1368 | 210 | 878 | 1140 | 210 | 137 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Virginia | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Croatan surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Croatan Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Croatan provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Croatan can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Croatan surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Croatan) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Croatan may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Croatan is 7 km (4 miles) from the city of Virginia Beach. If you plan a vacation in Virginia, look for hotels and other accommodation in Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
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