Delray Public Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let me level with you: if you're hanging out for a wave at Delray Public Beach over the next couple of weeks, you're going to need a lot of patience. The forecast is a real bummer, with nothing but poor surf conditions from start to finish. Every single slot in the next 16 days is a flat, messy, or just plain ugly affair.

We kick things off on Tuesday the 4th of August, and right away it's a no-go. Tiny swell at 1.0ft from the ESE, with a short, weak period of 8 seconds. The combined energy is a pathetic 16, and there's a moderate breeze blowing straight onshore. It's basically a lake. That sets the tone for the entire run. For days on end – through the 5th, 6th, 7th, and beyond – we see the same story. Swell heights rarely even touch 3.0ft, and when they do, like on the morning of Friday the 7th with a 3.6ft E swell, it's accompanied by a trashy 5-second period and onshore wind over 12 mph. The wave energy does nudge into the moderate range on the afternoon of the 7th at 106, but with that short period and onshore wind, it's just a crumbly, blown-out mess. The water temp is a warm 86.0°F, which is about average for this time of year, but that's little comfort when there's nothing to ride.

The whole 16-day window is one long gap. There's not a single day you could point to and say, "that's worth a paddle." The swell direction is almost always out of the ESE or SE, which isn't ideal for this break, and the wind is persistently onshore or cross-onshore. Even towards the end of the second week, around the 18th and 19th of August, we get a tiny bump in period to 9 seconds, but the swell is only 1.0ft. The combined energy sits around 23 to 30 – still weak. There's a brief moment on the morning of the 18th where the wind goes cross-offshore from the SW at a light 6 mph, which would clean things up, but with a 1.0ft swell, you'd be floating. It’s just not happening.

Honestly, for a beach break like Delray, this kind of blank run is a bit more normal than you'd hope for this time of year. It tends not to stay this poor forever, but right now, forecasts can't change fast enough. If the wind keeps up and the swell stays this pathetic, the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. I hate to say it, but there's no standout, no highlight, no silver lining. The board stays in the car.

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