Donuts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here with a long look at Donuts. Let's be straight with you – we've got a real mixed bag over the next 16 days, and quite a few sessions you'll want to sleep through. The water's sitting at 71° which is much warmer than normal for this time of year, a proper anomaly of 4°, so you won't need a thick suit.

For the first week, the story is mostly frustration. Tuesday the 21st starts with a clean 4ft SW groundswell (16 second period) and light westerly offshore winds on the morning. The combined swell energy is moderate at 629. But the wave comment says it's marginal, so don’t get too excited. That afternoon, the wind swings cross-onshore and chops things up. Wednesday and Thursday follow a similar pattern – we’ve got some swell in the water but the wind keeps ruining it with a cross-onshore mess.

Friday the 24th morning is a real tease. You've got a 2ft SW swell with a very long 24-second period – that's proper energy, 823 combined, but it's breaking too straight for the beach here. This kind of period works best at a point or reef, so Donuts being a sheltered reef spot is actually good news. But the wind is still cross-onshore, and it gets labeled as poor conditions. The swell drops off further through the weekend.

Honestly, the best real opportunity in this entire outlook is Tuesday the 28th morning. We get a 4ft SW groundswell (17 seconds) with a combined energy of 1089, so it's pushing into strong territory. The wind is from the south at 9 mph, which is a cross-shore breeze. It's a gentle cross-shore with just a slight chop, and the score is a 2 out of 10. That's the top of the heap here. Keep in mind, Donuts is an inconsistent reef break, and the crowd factor is "sometimes", so you might get a couple of buddies out there, but likely not a crowd. The swell direction matches the optimum (W), so the reef should line up nicely.

We then drift into the second week. There's a pulse on Friday the 31st morning with a 5ft SSW swell, but the wind goes onshore and it's messy. By the 1st of August, the swell crashes out to 3ft with a short, weak 10-second period and the combined energy drops hard to 344. From there, it’s pretty much flatlining. The period gets short, the heights drop below 3ft, and the wind stays messy. The last week has energy values in the 200s – weak stuff.

The gap after the 4th of August is a real dead zone with no surf worth paddling out for. That’s a solid 2-3 days of nothing.

One final thing – on the 31st of July afternoon, the swell pushes 5ft. That's getting too big for beginners, and the onshore wind makes it a raw, lumpy mess. If you're an experienced surfer, you might find a wave, but it won't be pretty.

So to sum it up: the standout is the morning of Tuesday the 28th of July. Get on it. The rest of the outlook is mostly a write-off. Forecasts can change, but as it sits, we're waiting for a better window.

Rusty.

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