Surf Forecasts:
Folly Beach surf forecast from 13 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Wednesday 19 Aug, 8AM (local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 5s period, S swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Tuesday 18 Aug, 11PM (local time) - 1.5ft (0.5m), 12s period, SE swell with 71 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Wednesday 19 Aug, 8AM (local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 5s period with S swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Folly Beach this week:
The surf forecast for Folly Beach over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Aug 19) at 8AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.4m and 11s period with a secondary swell of 0.9m and 5s. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Folly Beach in the next 16 days are 0.5m 12s and forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Aug 18) at 11PM. Winds are predicted to be cross-onshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.5m 4s period and expected on Friday (Aug 14) at 5AM.
| Wave Type | Time (EDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 8AM (Wed 19th Aug) | 3ft (0.9m) 5s |
| Best Surf | 8AM (Wed 19th Aug) | 3ft (0.9m) 5s |
| Most Powerful | 11PM (Tue 18th Aug) | 1.5ft (0.5m) 12s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Folly Beach over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Hey folks, it's Rusty. Gotta be straight with you – this 16-day window for Folly Beach is a tough one. There's nothing that's going to get me racing for my board. The whole stretch looks flat or near-flat, and the few tiny bumps we get are completely blown out by onshore wind or barely have any energy. We're looking at a long dry spell until around August 24th, with maybe a sliver of something small trying to show up late in the second week. It's one of those spells where you might be better off checking the tides for a paddle or just taking a break.
Let's break it down. Starting off on Wednesday August 12th, there's next to nothing – 0.3 ft of swell out of the SE with a weak 7 energy reading, but a cross-shore wind makes it a washout. The 13th and 14th are more of the same: tiny 0.7 ft to 2 ft swells, a mix of poor wind directions, and water temps here at Folly Beach are about 86°F which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year. Not that it matters with no waves.
The mornings of the 15th, 16th, and even into the 18th of August are worth noting just for the conditions – we get some glassy patches with barely a breath of wind, which is beautiful for a morning coffee on the sand, but the swell is a pathetic 0.3 ft to 1 ft with energy readings only in the single digits (3, 10, 37). There's simply no wave to ride.
The best the forecast has to offer is looking at Monday August 24th into Tuesday August 25th. We see a tiny bump in height to 2 ft or even 2 ft out of the south, but the period is a terrible 4 seconds – that's all wind chop. The energy is still weak (around 26-28). Tuesday morning the 25th there's a chance of a glassy start with offshore-ish wind... but honestly, 2 ft of 4-second chop is not worth paddling out for. It’ll be a mess.
After that, the swell dies back down to tiny 1.0 ft to 2 ft wind slop for the rest of the month, all onshore or cross-shore winds and storm risks. Nothing here for a surfer.
Bottom line: Folly Beach has a big fat zero for the next 16 days. Keep the board in the car for the trip back home, or just enjoy the beach. It's a rare blank run for this area, but it happens.
Stay salty,
Rusty
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 3mm), mostly falling on Sat morning. Warm (max 34°C on Thu afternoon, min 27°C on Thu night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 8mm), mostly falling on Sun night. Warm (max 31°C on Sat afternoon, min 26°C on Sun night). Wind will be generally light. | |||||||||||||||||||
Wed 12 | Thursday 13 | Friday 14 | Saturday 15 | Sunday 16 | Monday 17 | Tuesday 18 | ||||||||||||||
PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 4 | SSW 4 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | SSW 4 | SSW 4 | S 3 | S 4 | SE 8 | SSE 5 | S 5 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 13 | SE 12 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 3 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 27 | 69 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | glassy | cross-on | cross | glassy | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | glassy | on | cross |
High Tide | 8:33PM1.96m | 9:01AM1.70m | 9:22PM1.92m | 9:53AM1.73m | 10:08PM1.85m | 10:44AM1.74m | 10:53PM1.75m | 11:33AM1.73m | 11:37PM1.65m | 12:21PM1.70m | 00:21AM1.55m | 1:09PM1.66m | 1:06AM1.46m | |||||||
Low Tide | 2:04PM-0.16m | 2:48AM-0.07m | 2:57PM-0.14m | 3:35AM-0.07m | 3:48PM-0.09m | 4:18AM-0.05m | 4:38PM-0.00m | 5:01AM0.01m | 5:28PM0.10m | 5:43AM0.08m | 6:18PM0.22m | 6:25AM0.16m | 7:12PM0.31m | |||||||
 |  | |  | | | |  |  | | | | |  | | | | |  | | |
 | — | — | 6:41 | — | — | 6:41 | — | — | 6:43 | — | — | 6:43 | — | — | 6:43 | — | — | 6:45 | — | — |
 | 8:07 | — | — | 8:07 | — | — | 8:06 | — | — | 8:05 | — | — | 8:02 | — | — | 8:01 | — | — | 8:00 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | — | 2 | — | — | 4 | — | — | 2 | — | 1 | 9 |
Temp °C | 33 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 31 | 30 | 32 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 29 | 28 | 30 | 30 |
Feels °C | 34 | 32 | 34 | 34 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 34 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 36 | 34 | 33 | 32 | 33 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 32 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 8 | S 4 | S 4 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | S 4 | SE 8 | SE 8 | S 4 | SSE 5 | SSE 5 | S 4 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SSW 4 | SE 8 | SE 8 | S 4 | SE 8 | SE 12 |
| kJ | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 69 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 6 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | — | — | ESE 7 | — | — | SE 5 | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 8 | E 4 | E 5 | SE 8 | — | — | SE 8 | SE 13 | — |
| kJ | 1 | 6 | 6 | — | — | 5 | — | — | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 9 | — | — | 18 | 27 | — |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | SE 8 | ESE 8 | — | — | E 5 | — | — | — | E 6 | SE 14 | — | — |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 7 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 8 | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 4 | SSW 4 | — | S 3 | SSW 4 | SSW 4 | S 3 | S 4 | — | ENE 2 | S 5 | — | S 3 | S 4 | — | S 3 | S 4 | SSW 4 | S 4 | S 4 |
| kJ | 3 | 9 | — | 6 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 8 | — | 1 | 7 | — | 2 | 7 | — | 6 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 13 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 1821 | 1693 | 1433 | 1389 | 1713 | 525 | 2322 | 1699 | 1638 | 1824 | 717 | 351 | 215 | 220 | 295 | 717 | 146 | 3 | 486 | 21 |
Best forecast wave conditions in South Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | ||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Folly Beach surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Folly Beach Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Folly Beach provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Folly Beach can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Folly Beach surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Folly Beach) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Folly Beach may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Folly Beach is 8 km (5 miles) from the city of Mount Pleasant. If you plan a vacation in South Carolina, look for hotels and other accommodation in Mount Pleasant. Mount Pleasant has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest