Emma Wood State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is gonna be a tough one to call for the next couple of weeks. Honestly, for Emma Wood State Beach, the surf is looking poor right through the 16-day window. There’s not a single standout day, so we’re looking at a long stretch of flat, weak, and messy conditions.

Right now, from Monday the 24th of August, we’ve got tiny swell. We’re talking a mere 1ft of SSW swell on Monday morning, with a light onshore breeze. The water is sitting at 71°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year—by nearly 7°, so that’s a real anomaly. The combined energy is weak (128), and the waves are just not there. This pattern sticks around through Tuesday and Wednesday, with the swell barely nudging up to 2ft to 2ft, but it’s always onshore or cross-onshore, keeping things choppy. The period is mostly short, around 12 to 14 seconds, so there’s no punch.

Thursday the 27th and Friday the 28th are more of the same: 1ft to 2ft, cross-onshore wind, and still poor. The energy picks up a bit on Friday (281), but it’s still junk.

We roll into the weekend of the 29th and 30th, and the swell holds around 2ft from the SSW, with light onshore breezes. Still no quality. By the start of September, Tuesday the 1st, we see the swell creep up to 3ft, but it’s still crossed up. The entire first week is a write-off.

Into the second week, it’s a similar story. The mornings on the 4th and 5th of September show the best possible swell in the whole run—3ft from the SSW with periods around 16 to 17 seconds, and a light breeze. The energy gets up there (387 on the 4th afternoon), but the surf is still rated marginal at best. Even the morning of the 8th of September shows 3ft with a little more energy (405), but again, marginal.

There’s nothing here that screams “go surf.” The best of a bad bunch would be the morning of the 4th or 5th of September, where you might find a rare ankle-high clean wave with that long period, but even then, at a beach and reef break, that long-period groundswell will likely close out. For the beginners, it’s never too big here, but with the wind and lack of swell, it’s just not worth it. Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer given the constant cross-onshore breeze.

In summary: a blank run for the entire 16 days. That’s pretty normal for this area in late summer. Forecasts can change, but right now, it’s a hard pass.

Rusty

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