Depressions Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’.

Honestly, the next couple of weeks are looking pretty flat and frustrating for us at Depressions. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak swell and onshore or cross-onshore winds messing things up. The first real surfable day doesn’t show up until Friday the 11th of September, and it’s nothing to write home about.

That Friday morning, we’ve got a 2 ft swell coming from the SW with a very long 16-second period – that’s groundswell energy, for sure. The combined energy is weak, at 282, and the wind is light and offshore from the SW, which would make for clean, glassy conditions. But the score is low, and the word is “marginal.” It’s a beginner-friendly wave height, but with that long period, the sets will be spaced out and might wall up a bit at this beach break setup. Still, if you’re desperate for a paddle, dawn patrol Friday is your only real window for now.

We then slide into a long, dry spell. Saturday the 12th morning is a repeat of Friday, with 2 ft and offshore wind, but the direction is more SSW and the period has dropped to 14 seconds. By afternoon, the wind swings cross-onshore and it gets choppy.

Sunday the 13th sees a bump in size – 4 ft in the morning from the WNW, but it’s only a 9-second period windswell. The winds are cross-onshore, and the combined energy is still weak at 353. It’s messy. By the afternoon, the swell hits 6 ft with a 6-second period – that’s a junky, short-period windswell piling in with a cross-onshore breeze (15 km/h). The combined energy is 400, which is moderate, but the quality is poor. This is more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle-surfing one.

From Monday the 14th through to the end of the month, it’s a sad story. The swell stays mostly below 3 ft, with the odd bump up to 2 ft. The period bounces between a long 16-21 seconds and a short 6-8 seconds, but the winds are almost always cross-onshore, keeping the surface messy or choppy. The combined energy numbers are mostly in the 100-400 range, weak to moderate, but it’s all for nothing with the poor quality scores. The one exception is the morning of Saturday the 19th of September, where we get a 2 ft SW swell with a long 18-second period and offshore wind – that’s another “marginal” call, but it’s clean. For a shortboard, it’s tiny. For a longboard, it could be a fun little glide.

The biggest size shows up on Sunday the 20th of September afternoon, with a 7 ft WNW swell and a 7-second period (combined energy 652, moderate-strong). But with cross-onshore wind and that short period, it’s going to be a junky, washing-machine mess. Again, more for the kite crew.

Look, the water temp is about average for the time of year. But the bottom line: there’s no standout session here. The best bet is to pick your moments with the morning offshore winds on the tiny days, but you’re not going to get any real power. For the next 16 days, Depressions is pretty much a write-off. Stay patient, forecasts can change.

Rusty.

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