Donuts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, I gotta be straight with you – this stretch is a tough one. We’re lookin’ at a pretty long dry spell here. The whole 16-day window is a struggle, but the first week and a half is particularly grim. The only name on the board is Donuts, a sheltered reef break that’s inconsistent, and it’s just not getting the love it needs.

The water is a balmy 72°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year – a solid 4° above average. That’s a nice touch for a paddle, but it doesn’t fix the waves.

There’s nothing on offer for the first few days. The swell is there, but it’s not workin’ with the wind. We’re lookin’ at a long period SW groundswell (16 seconds) coming in at 4 ft on Friday the 4th, but that cross-on NW wind is just makin’ a mess of it. The combined energy is moderate (837), but it’s all for nothing. Saturday the 5th is more of the same – 4 ft SW groundswell, cross-on wind, and a painful score of zero. The energy picks up a bit to 964, but it’s still poor.

Sunday the 6th sees the swell push up to 6 ft, but it’s a cross-shore wind and the wave comment is still "marginal" at best. This is a reef break, so a long period swell like this (14 seconds) can be okay, but with the wind on it, it’s just a washing machine. The energy is strong (1223), but it’s wasted.

Monday the 7th is the same story – 6 ft SSW swell, but the wind is cross-onshore, and the rating is a flat zero. That 6 ft is getting into the “too big for beginners” territory, but it’s not clean enough for anyone.

The whole first week is a bust. The swell drops through the second week, gettin’ down to 2 ft by the 14th, and the wind never really lets up. A few afternoons show a light onshore wind that might clean it up a little (like Thursday the 10th and Saturday the 12th), but the swell is too small to do anything with.

The very end of the forecast, around the 18th and 19th of September, shows a little flicker of hope. We’ve got a 2 ft to 3 ft SW groundswell with a very long period of 18-20 seconds. The energy is building back up (726). The wind is still cross-onshore, but it’s light. For a sheltered reef like Donuts, if the tide is right, you *might* get a clean little waist-high wave. It’s a long shot, and this far out it’s pretty uncertain, but it’s the only thing even close to a window in the whole outlook.

So, bottom line: there’s nothing to get excited about for the next week and a half. The setup is more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer, honestly. The last few days of the window have a whisper of a chance, but don’t hold your breath. Keep an eye on the forecasts, ‘cause it can’t stay this poor forever.

Rusty.

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