Folly Beach Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the menu for our local stretch. I won’t sugarcoat it – the next couple of weeks are looking pretty bleak for a proper paddle. We’ve got a long, dry spell on our hands.

There are no good surf options in this 16-day window. Not a single day scores high enough to grab your board and head out with any real confidence. You’re looking at a blank run that stretches from now right through until at least the 25th of August. For our area, this kind of run is more normal when the summer patterns lock in, so it’s not a complete shock, but it’s still a bummer.

Let’s start with the first day that at least has some energy. On Monday the 10th, we’ve got tiny waves at Folly Beach Pier. We’re talking a weak 1ft swell from the SE in the morning, with a short 7-second period. The combined energy is a measly (12), which tells you everything. The morning wind is a cross-off from the WSW at 9 mph, so it’s clean, but the surf is just too poor to bother with. It stays flat and poor all week.

We roll into the weekend of the 15th. Saturday morning the 15th has glassy conditions with zero wind, which is a beautiful sight, but the swell is only 0.3ft from the SE with 9 seconds. The energy is (3) – that’s not even a ripple. Sunday the 16th is much the same story, with a slight cross-shore breeze and a 1.0ft SE swell.

Into the second week, things don’t really improve. There’s a slight bump in energy around the 18th and 19th, with combined energies hitting (67) on Tuesday the 18th afternoon and (94) on Wednesday the 19th afternoon. That’s from a 2ft SE swell with a very long 15-second period, but the wind is a miserable cross-onshore. That long period stuff is better suited for a point or reef than our beach break anyway, and with the chop, it’s going to be a mess. The swell direction from the SE doesn’t match the NE optimum for this spot, either.

The only real stand-out for clean conditions is Thursday morning the 20th of August. It's dead glassy again, with a 1ft SE swell and a 10-second period. Energy is (38). If you were absolutely desperate for a sunrise paddle on a longboard, you might get a couple of ankle-biters, but it’s not proper surf. The rest of the month just fades out with onshore wind and a risk of thunderstorms.

Honestly, for a paddle surfer, there’s nothing worth the drive. The setup here looks more interesting for a kite session than a surf session once that side-shore wind kicks in from the south-west. Keep the board waxed and wait for the forecasts to change – it tends not to stay this poor for too long.

- Rusty

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