Galveston Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – this 16-day window for Galveston is a tough one. We’re looking at a long stretch of small, weak surf. The first recommendation doesn't kick in until Friday the 4th of September, and even then, it’s a slow start. The first few days are a write-off, and honestly, the whole period is a challenge. Most of the time, the swell heights are around 0.7 ft to 1 ft, with a combined energy that’s barely registering, often in the single digits. We don’t see any proper energy until the last few days, and even then it’s weak.

The big story here is the lack of any real swell and the persistent onshore or cross-onshore winds. The optimum swell direction is SE, and we do see some swell from that direction, but it’s tiny and short-period. The water temperature is running at 87°, which is a touch warmer than normal for the time of year, so at least the water is warm.

The standouts, if you can call them that, are the sessions where the wind goes glassy. Saturday the 5th of September morning has a glassy 0.7 ft swell from the South, but it’s practically flat. The same goes for Tuesday the 8th of September morning with a glassy 0.7 ft SSE swell. Small, clean, but barely surfable. The best of a bad bunch might be the tail end of the window. On Thursday the 17th of September morning, we see a 2 ft South swell, but it’s chopped up by a 12 mph cross-onshore wind and the energy is only moderate (20). Later that afternoon, the swell bumps to 2 ft from the South, but the wind picks up to 19 mph, making it a fresh cross-onshore mess. That’s the biggest swell of the period, but it’s not going to be pretty.

For a beginner, these tiny 0.7 ft days are about as safe as it gets, but the 2 ft on the 17th would be a bit much for a beginner, especially with the wind. Honestly, the whole setup is more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, given the consistent onshore winds and small, weak waves.

Rusty.

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