Gold Beach/South Park/Hunter Creek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let's take a look at what's on the cards for the Gold Beach area.

Honestly, it's a bit of a slow burn for the next week or so. We've got a run of small, clean surf right at the start, but then the wind turns ugly and we're looking at a long stretch of blown-out, choppy conditions. The real highlight, if you can wait for it, is a promising window that pops up about two weeks out.

The first session to get on is Tuesday afternoon, August 25th, down at Gold Beach/South Park/Hunter Creek. It's a beach and reef set-up, and the water is sitting at 57°, which is pretty much normal for this time of year. The swell is a small but clean 2ft from the SW, with a long 16-second period. That long period will give the waves some shape, but the size is small. The wind is glassy, so it'll be smooth. The combined swell energy is moderate at 369. It's an intermediate zone, but with those tiny waves, any surfer can get a go.

Wednesday, August 26th is more of the same. The morning starts with a glassy 2ft SW swell, 16-second period, and the afternoon bumps up to 2ft. The wind stays glassy. The energy is moderate at 274 and 275. It's a nice, clean couple of days for a longboard or a funboard if you're keen to get wet.

Then things go south. From Thursday morning, August 27th, the wind kicks in from the NW and stays cross-onshore, chopping up the surf. The swell tries to pick up a bit, but the quality is poor. This messy pattern sticks around, with the wind getting stronger, often hitting 18-25 mph, making for lumpy, cross-onshore, and cross-shore chop. The swell energy gets moderate to strong (like the 550 on the 29th and 1129 on the 3rd of September), but the wind is just too strong for clean paddle surfing. With that strong cross-shore wind and a 6ft swell on Thursday, September 3rd, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The real standout of the whole forecast is Tuesday afternoon, September 8th. The forecast says "expect very good surf conditions," and for good reason. The wind goes glassy from the WNW, and the swell is a solid 5ft from the NW. It's a short-period swell at 8 seconds, so it'll be a bit more crumbly, but the glassy wind will make it super clean. The combined swell energy is strong at 547. This is the one to circle on your calendar. It's a bit far out, so it's promising but less certain, but right now it looks like the best bet by far.

Overall, not a classic run for the area. The first two days are clean and small, then we have a long gap of poor conditions until that September 8th window. It's a bit of a grind, but that one Tuesday afternoon could be a real treat.

Rusty.

Read more