Dunes Hotel (Miami) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright everybody, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cooking for the Miami area.

Plain and simple, we’re looking at a pretty bleak stretch ahead. Over the next 16 days, the surf is going to be flat to tiny, and the conditions are just not lining up for anything worth paddling out for. The best we can say is that the water temp is sitting around 87° at the start, which is pretty normal for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a wetsuit.

The first actual surfable swell doesn’t show up until Monday, August 24th, and even then it’s a pretty weak offering. Before that, from now through August 23rd, we’re looking at a long run of days with hardly any energy. Expect waves mostly under 2 ft, with periods short and weak—combined swell energy is down in the single digits or teens (10 to 21). Winds are mostly onshore or cross-onshore, which is going to chop up anything that’s there. There’s a brief moment on Tuesday morning, August 18th, with a light offshore wind from the WNW, but the swell is just 0.3 ft, so it’s glassy flatness. Not enough to surf.

The only real standout—and I use that term loosely—is Monday, August 24th, when we finally see a bump in swell. The morning brings a 4 ft wave from the SE with a period of 5 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 76, which is still pretty weak. Winds are onshore from the E at 25 km/h, so it’ll be messy. This is really only for the dedicated, and it’s not going to be clean. The following days, August 25th and 26th, hold similar small, onshore windswell in the 4 ft to 4 ft range, but the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore, and the period is short. It’s more of a choppy, lumpy beach situation than any kind of quality surfing.

Given the combination of small, weak swell and persistent onshore winds, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. For the surfers, the message is clear: sit this one out.

Rusty.

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