Dunes Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, with a look at what’s coming down the line for the Dunes.

It’s a classic reef break setup that’s exposed to the SW, and we’ve got a run of surf that builds nicely through the first part of the week. The water temp’s sitting at 74°, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year, so no need to worry about a wetsuit thickness call just yet.

The real standout of the whole 16-day window is Tuesday the 18th. We’ve got a clean morning with SE offshore wind at 9 mph and a solid SW groundswell pushing 5 ft with a long 17-second period. The combined energy is strong at 1451, and it’s set up for excellent, powerful waves. This is the morning to be in the water—just keep in mind that with such a long period groundswell, the sets will be a bit more spaced out, but the shape and drive will be well worth the wait. The afternoon actually jumps to 7 ft, but the guidance flags that as too big for this break, so stick with the morning session.

Monday the 17th is a solid runner-up. The morning has a 4 ft WSW groundswell with a 15-second period and clean conditions under a light southerly cross-off. It’s not the biggest, but the quality is there, and the combined energy of 811 is good moderate stuff. That afternoon the swell holds but the wind picks up, so the morning is your window.

After that peak, things settle back down through the rest of the week. Thursday the 20th and Friday the 21st both have clean mornings with around 5-5 ft SW swell, still good groundswell energy (over 1000), and light offshore winds. These are good, solid intermediate sessions, though nothing as punchy as Tuesday.

There’s a definite lull from Saturday the 22nd all the way through the following week. By the 26th of August we start to see some longer-period WSW pulses reappearing, but they’re small—3 ft—and the energy is moderate (699). The real interest comes back on Thursday the 27th of August, when we get a 4 ft SW swell with a 15-second period and light cross-off winds in the morning. The energy is moderate at 631, and the call is for very good conditions. It’s promising but it’s a week and a half out, so keep an eye on that one.

The very end of the outlook, August 31st, shows a 5 ft WSW swell, but with a strong onshore wind (19 mph) and poor conditions flagged. That’s one to skip.

So in short: Tuesday the 18th morning is your absolute best bet. Monday the 17th morning and Thursday the 27th morning are the next best calls. The crowds at Dunes are just "sometimes" an issue, but on such a good day, expect a few other salty locals to have the same idea.

Stay stoked.

Rusty.

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