81st Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s look at what we’ve got over the next couple of weeks. I’ve gotta be straight with you—this is a grim stretch for 81st Street. The whole 16-day window is a write-off for any decent surf. We’re seeing a long, dry run with barely a ripple worth paddling out for. The first real chance of anything surfable doesn’t show up until Sunday the 19th of July, and even then it’s nothing to get excited about.

The swell is tiny for almost the entire period. Most days we’re looking at swell heights from 0.7 ft to maybe 3 ft, but mostly hanging around the 1.0 ft to 2 ft mark. The direction is all over the place—ESE, SSE, NE—none of it lining up well with the optimal ESE direction for this spot. The combined swell energy is weak too, with values mostly between 13 and 70, which tells you there’s just no power in the water.

Winds are a mixed bag of cross-off, cross, and onshore breezes. There are a few mornings with light offshore or cross-off winds that would clean it up, like Tuesday morning the 7th, or Friday morning the 10th, but with swell that small, it’s just not worth suiting up. The period is often short, hanging around 4 to 8 seconds, which means weak, bumpy waves.

The one and only standout—and I’m using that word generously—arrives on Sunday morning, July 19th. We get a modest bump to 2 ft from the SSE with an 8-second period. The combined energy jumps to 55 (moderate), and the wind is a light offshore from the SW at 6 mph, making for clean conditions. It’s still only a 1 out of 10 on the score, so “surfable but very ordinary” is the call. The water temperature is around 78°F, which is 1°F warmer than average for the time of year—nothing unusual there.

Monday the 20th morning is similar, with 3 ft from the SSE and a light cross-off breeze. Another so-so option, but nothing that’ll get your heart racing. Everything else before that is a flat, windy, or choppy mess.

Crowds at 81st Street can show up sometimes, but with this forecast, I reckon you’ll have the place to yourself. And to be honest, for most of this window, it looks more like a day for a beach walk or kite surfing than paddle surfing.

So, the long and short of it: the first week and a half is a total blank. The second week offers a couple of poor-to-mediocre mornings, but nothing you’d drive for. Forecasts can change though, so don’t write it off completely.

– Rusty

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