Ditch Plains Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here, staring down the charts for Ditch Plains. Gotta be straight with you – it's a tough stretch. For the next two weeks, this is a story about waiting for a window that might finally crack open late in the game.

Right off the bat, the water temp is sitting at 68°, which is just about what you'd expect for this time of year, no surprises there.

Let’s start from the top. We kick off on Wednesday the 8th, and honestly, it’s a mess. Swell is tiny, weak, and coming from the wrong direction (east) with a short period. The combined wave energy is a paltry 72, and the winds are all over the place – cross, cross-on. It’s just poor. That theme runs straight through the first week. Thursday the 9th, Friday the 10th, the weekend... the swell stays tiny, mostly under 3 ft. You get a glimmer on Friday morning with some light offshore wind from the northwest, but the swell is only 2 ft from the south with a period of 6 seconds. That combined energy is down to 40. It’s surfable, but very, very ordinary. That’s the best we get for a few days.

The middle of the second week is more of the same. Some moderate energy shows up on the 14th (Tuesday) with a combined swell reading of 115, and the period bumps up to 8 seconds, but the wind is a problem, keeping the surf choppy and messy.

Then we hit Sunday the 19th. The combined swell energy jumps to 172, with a 4 ft south swell at 8 seconds. The morning looks clean with a light cross-offshore wind from the west-southwest. That’s actually a decent-looking morning, but the afternoon wind turns it to mush.

Finally, after a long dry spell, the one that catches my eye is Wednesday morning, the 22nd of July. We’ve got good south swell building, combined energy reading a strong 212, with a solid 5 ft of swell. The period is only 7 seconds, so it’s a bit of a short-period wind swell, but the key here is the wind. It’s forecast to be glassy. Absolutely flat calm. That’s going to make Ditch Plains look as clean as it ever gets, even if the waves aren’t perfect. The size is pushing into the intermediate zone, so beginners might find it a bit much.

But here’s the deal: the surf on the 22nd will be breaking fast and a bit close together with that short period. The size is solid, but it would be way better if we had a longer period groundswell. Still, for the first solid surf in over two weeks, I’ll take it. Thursday the 23rd looks like it drops off again and brings a risk of thunderstorms, so that Wednesday morning window is your only real shot.

Hold out for the 22nd, lads. Glassy conditions and some proper size after a long wait. That’s the one.

- Rusty

Read more