Croatan Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s in store.

Honestly, this stretch is a tough one for Croatan. We’re looking at a long, drawn-out period over the next couple of weeks with nothing really firing. The water’s sitting at a balmy 80°, which is much warmer than we’d normally see this time of year, so that’s a nice touch if you’re just getting wet, but for surfing, the energy just isn't showing up.

Through the rest of this week and into the middle of next, it’s a barrage of poor conditions. Winds are all over the place, often cross or onshore, and the swell heights are tiny, generally under 3ft with short periods. You’ll see a lot of mornings with light winds or even glass, but the waves are just too weak to do much with – combined energy is often below 100, indicating very weak surf. There are a couple of spots around Tuesday the 15th and Wednesday the 16th with glassy mornings, but the swell is a paltry 1.0ft to 2ft from the ESE.

The only real standout to even talk about comes in the second week. Look towards the early hours of Tuesday, the 22nd of September. That morning we’ve got a glassy surface with a light SSW wind and a 3ft swell from the east at 8 seconds. The combined energy hits 129, which is a moderate bump compared to everything else. It’s the most push we get in the whole window. But even then, the conditions are “ordinary” at best. It’ll be clean and rideable for a cruiser on a log, but it’s not going to have any punch.

Before that, there’s a bit of hope on the morning of Sunday, the 20th. A 3ft NE swell with offshore W winds at 6 mph makes for clean conditions. The energy is only 69 though, so it's small and soft.

Overall, it’s a pretty blank run. For paddlers, it’s a waiting game on those few glassy windows for a really small-wave session. The set-ups at Croatan won’t hold much interest for the strapped-in crew until we see a proper change.

Stay patient. Rusty.

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