8th Street Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee, let’s have a look at what’s happening.

Honestly, if you’re wanting to get wet at 8th Street Jetty, you might want to take up another hobby for the next couple of weeks. This whole forecast is a real bummer. We’re looking at a long, drawn-out stretch of tiny, weak, and messy surf. The water temp is sitting at about 77°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, but that’s about the only good news.

The first possible session isn't until Wednesday morning, August 19th. We’ve got a tiny 1 ft swell from the SE, with a period of 10 seconds. The combined energy is a very weak 16. But, and this is a big but, the wind is light and cross-offshore from the west, so it will be clean. That’s about the only thing going for it. That little bump hangs around into the afternoon, still clean with a light west wind.

After that, we go into a real dry spell. From Thursday the 20th through to the 26th of August, it’s a mix of onshore winds, sloppy conditions, and swells so small they’re barely registering. Wind is all over the place – south, north, east – and waves are stuck around 1 ft to 2 ft. Energy levels are mostly under 50, which is just pathetic.

Now, I’ve got to point out the 26th of August, Wednesday morning. There’s a 1 ft swell from the SE, but the period jumps to a very long 16 seconds and the energy is 92. Even the afternoon sees the energy hit 110 while the swell stays around 2 ft. That long-period groundswell with the wind being light and cross-shore in the morning means you *might* see a couple of clean, slow rollers. But honestly, that’s a bare-minimum day for an advanced surfer on a longboard.

From the 27th into the start of September, the trade winds start to blow more consistently from the SE and ESE. The swell picks up a little bit of size, hitting 3 ft on the 30th of August with energy at 305, but it’s coming straight from the east with a moderate cross-shore breeze. It’s going to be lumpy. The period on that bump is a solid 12 seconds, so there’s some push, but the quality just isn’t there.

If I had to pick the best of the worst, I’d say the morning of Sunday, August 30th. That 3 ft east swell with a 12-second period and moderate cross-shore wind is your best shot, but don’t expect anything epic. It’s still going to be pretty average. The direction isn’t ideal for the jetty, and the wind won’t be helping.

Overall, this is a tough stretch. The surf quality is consistently rated as poor across the entire 16-day window. It’s looking more like a kite-surfing setup than a paddle-surfing paradise with all that cross-shore wind and building swell energy later on. Keep your expectations low.

- Rusty

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