Folly Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let’s break down the next couple weeks.

Honestly, it’s a quiet, flat stretch for the full sixteen days. The swell energy is weak the whole way – mostly hanging in the low double digits, with just a couple of days nudging into the 50s or 60s. That’s not much push. Wave heights are tiny, mostly 0.5 ft to 2 ft.

Friday the 28th of August starts off glassy with a little 1 ft SE swell, period 9 seconds, but the surf quality is poor. The morning is calm with a light offshore wind from the NNW, so it’s clean, but there’s just no power. Water temp is about average for this time of year.

Saturday the 29th stays real small – 0.5 ft to 2 ft – and the wind turns onshore or cross-onshore in the afternoon, chopping things up. Sunday the 30th is more of the same: tiny SE swells, onshore winds later. This just keeps rolling. Best wind conditions pop up on a few mornings – like Tuesday the 1st of September with glassy conditions, or Wednesday the 2nd with a cross-shore breeze – but the swell is way too small to ride.

We do see a slight bump on the 2nd of September: the swell period stretches to 11 seconds (groundswell), and the combined energy hits 59 – the highest of the whole run. Still, wave height is only 2 ft. The wind is cross-shore from the SW, keeping it fairly clean, but it’s barely a knee-high wave.

The rest of the first week and into the second week stays tiny, with heights bouncing between 0.5 ft and 2 ft, and the wind often onshore or cross-onshore, making it choppy. There are a few clean mornings, like the 5th and 6th of September, with light offshore winds, but the swell is still weak. From the 7th of September onward, it gets even smaller – 0.5 ft to 0.5 ft – and combined energy drops into single digits. Nothing to get excited about.

If I had to call a standout, it’d be Wednesday the 2nd of September. The 11-second groundswell gives it a bit more shape, the wind is cross-off, and it has the most energy. But still, you’d be struggling for a proper wave. For beginners, this is all super safe – nothing over 5 ft at any point – so if you just want to splash around, fine. For anyone wanting real surf, this is a dead period.

There’s a long gap of day after day with no real recommendations – basically the whole 16 days is flat for Folly Beach. Forecasts can change, so don’t write it off completely, but right now? Keep the board in the garage.

Rusty.

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