Dunes Hotel (Miami) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve got to be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for a proper surf. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak, and messy conditions ahead, so if you’re chasing waves, you might want to find another hobby for a while.

The entire 16-day window is a write-off. There isn’t a single decent wave on offer. The swell energy is consistently weak, mostly in the low double digits (like 5 to 90), and the periods are short and choppy. We’re looking at a lot of onshore and cross-onshore breezes kicking up bumps, and the swell heights barely tickle the 3ft mark. It’s the kind of stretch where the ocean looks like a washing machine, not a surf spot.

The only place we’re even looking at is Dunes Hotel (Miami). It’s a sheltered, inconsistent beginner break, and even it can’t string together a ride. The first few days have nothing but poor surf, with winds mostly from the east and southeast, creating choppy, messy conditions. The swell is tiny, around 1ft to 3ft, with periods of just 3 to 5 seconds. There’s no push, no shape, just foam.

Things don’t improve as we get into the second week. Around August 15th and 16th, there’s a slight bump in size to about 4ft, but it’s coming from the southeast with a short period and still poor conditions. The energy numbers do climb a bit (up to 90 on the 16th), but it’s all surface chop, not real swell. The wind is still mostly onshore or cross-onshore, so it’ll be a mess.

The only moment of interest is the morning of August 18th, when we finally get a light cross-offshore wind from the southwest, and the sea surface is described as clean. But the swell is still a pathetic 2ft with a 4-second period. You’d be surfing ankle-biters if you could even catch one. The energy is weak (19), and it’s not going to be worth the paddle.

Even if the conditions were glassy, there’s simply no wave energy to work with. This is a classic case of a blank run for the area. Sometimes it just goes flat, and this is one of those times. The forecasts can change, but as it stands, there is nothing to get excited about.

I wouldn’t even bother waxing the board. Give it a week or two and check back. Until then, it’s a kitesurfing kind of week if anything, but for us paddle surfers, it’s a solid rest.

Rusty.

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