Folly Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is a tough one to call, folks. I’m Rusty, and I’ve been staring at the charts for Folly Beach, and I gotta be straight with you: it’s looking like a real dry spell. We’re looking at a 16-day window here, and there’s just nothing on the menu worth paddling out for. The whole forecast is a graveyard of "poor surf conditions" with scores that don’t break the zero mark. Basically, if you’re itching for a wave, you’re going to be itching for a long time.

The pattern is a stubborn, low-energy setup. We’ve got tiny, choppy swells coming in from the southeast mostly, with periods hanging around 4 to 8 seconds. That’s short-period, weak windswell, not the kind of energy that builds a rideable face. The combined swell energy is a joke, barely cracking a hundred (like 16 to 110) for most of the time, which is a dead giveaway that the ocean is just flat and tired.

Let’s walk through it. The first possible look is Thursday the 6th of August, but it’s a total non-starter. A 1ft to 2ft swell from the SE with a 7-second period, and a cross-onshore wind from the SSE at 6 mph. The water temp is about average for the time of year, but you won’t care because you’ll be sitting on the beach. Friday the 7th is the same sad story: 3ft, onshore wind, messy. Saturday the 8th? Same. Sunday the 9th through to the end of the first week? You guessed it – tiny, choppy, and crossed up.

There’s a small glimmer on the morning of Saturday the 15th of August, where we see a 3ft swell from the SSW with a 5-second period. The wind is light and cross-offshore from the WNW at 6 mph, which means clean conditions. The combined energy is a weak 55. But it’s a 5-second period. That’s all push and no face. It’ll be a dribbly, close-out shorebreak if anything at all. Not a stand-out by any stretch, just the least terrible option in a very terrible lineup.

The second week is identical. The 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st of August are all the same pattern: tiny swells, periods that never get above 10 seconds, and mostly onshore or cross-onshore winds. The combined energy is always in the weak two-digit range. There’s just no swell energy to work with.

Honestly, this is one of those blank runs where the ocean just shuts down. For a spot like Folly Beach, which is a fairly exposed beach break, it’s a normal part of the summer pattern. The water temp is about average for the time of year, so no excitement there. For a kite surfer, maybe some of those afternoons with a 15 mph southerly wind and 2ft chop would be a laugh, but for a paddle surfer? Forget it. The forecasts can change, but right now, there’s nothing to get excited about.

Rusty.

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