Folly Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cookin' for Folly Beach. Gotta be straight with you, it's a bit of a rough stretch ahead.

We're looking at a 16-day window, starting now, and to be honest, it's a pretty grim picture for most of it. The water is a warm 86°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – feels like bathwater.

For the first week, it's a whole lot of nothing. From the start of the period, our "swell" is tiny – we're talking ankle-snappers at best, with most of the energy readings well under 100 (like 18), meaning weak and pretty much useless. You've got a mix of onshore and cross-onshore winds from the south and southeast messing things up further. It's all labelled as "poor surf conditions." Honestly, unless you've got a longboard and zero expectations, it's not worth paddling out. There's a real dry spell here. You get a little bump around the 7th of August with combined energy hitting 120 (moderate energy) but it's still a short-period, onshore mess.

The second week doesn't offer much hope for a standout either. There are a few mornings around the 11th, 12th, and 13th of August where we see some clean conditions with a light cross-offshore breeze from the west, which is promising. We get tiny swell heights around 2 ft to 3 ft from the SSW, but the period is a terrible 5 seconds. That's pure wind chop with no power. The wave energy during these times is weak, with combined energy in the 30s and 40s.

The closest thing to a "something" happens on the 16th of August. We get a slight bump in swell to about 4 ft from the E and ESE, with combined energy back into triple digits (108 to 112 – moderate energy). However, the period is still short at 6 seconds—messy, wind-driven stuff. The winds are light and cross-onshore that afternoon, so it won't be pretty. If you absolutely have to get wet that weekend, this is the best you’re gonna get, but temper your expectations. For a beginner, 4 ft with those junky conditions could be a handful.

Overall, it’s a tough outlook. This is one of those stretches where the forecast is promising for kite surfers with the consistent side-shore wind, but for paddle surfing, it’s a washout for the foreseeable future.

Rusty.

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