81st Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

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

81st Street is the only show in town, and to be honest, it’s a pretty quiet one. The swell energy is weak for the entire run, with combined energy values mostly sitting between 13 and 50, which is barely a pulse. The wind is a mixed bag, but there are a few moments where the stars might align for a slow, clean session.

Things start off flat and messy. Thursday the 20th of August has a tiny 1ft ESE swell but the morning is cross-off and clean, so if you’re desperate for a paddle and a knee-high wave, you could take the longboard. The rest of that week stays small, with nothing breaking 2ft and a lot of cross and onshore winds making it choppy.

Saturday the 22nd of August looks like the best of the first week. The morning has a light offshore wind from the WSW, clean conditions, and a tiny 1ft ESE swell. It’s small, but it’s clean. Sunday the 23rd of August morning also has a clean offshore wind from the SW with a 1ft SSE swell – still tiny, but ridable for a beginner on a foamie.

Tuesday the 29th of August is the first real standout. The morning is glassy, dead calm, with a 1ft SE swell and a period of 10 seconds. The combined energy is 46, and the conditions are described as “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” For this spot, that’s about as good as it gets. The water temperature is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual.

Then there’s a gap of poor conditions until Tuesday the 1st of September. That morning, the swell jumps to 2ft from the SE with a 10-second period, and the combined energy hits 116 – moderate energy. The wind is light offshore from the SW, the conditions are clean. For 81st Street, this is the best of the whole outlook. It’s still small, but it’s the most energy and the cleanest wind we’ll see.

After that, Wednesday the 2nd and Thursday the 3rd of September see a bump in swell size to 4ft and 4ft, but the wind is a fresh onshore and cross-onshore from the NE, making it lumpy and messy. The energy is moderate (108 to 159) but the quality is poor.

The standout here is the morning of Tuesday the 1st of September. That’s the one to circle on the calendar. The swell is small but clean, with a light offshore wind and moderate energy. For a beginner-friendly spot like 81st Street, that’s as good as it gets in this 16-day window.

Crowds are possible here, as the break is listed as “sometimes” crowded.

Rusty.

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