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

Alright, grab a coffee and sit down, because I’ve got to be straight with you – the next two weeks are a tough watch for anyone chasing waves at Gold Beach/South Park/Hunter Creek. Honestly, it’s a rough spell. The forecast is basically a long, flat stretch of frustration, and there’s not a single standout session in the whole 16-day run.

Starting Thursday morning, July 2nd, it’s already looking grim. There’s a tiny 0.6m (that’s about 2 feet) SW groundswell pushing in with a long 16-second period, but you won’t want to bother. The wind is ripping out of the NNW at 19 mph (30 km/h), cross-shore, and it’s chopping everything to bits. The water is sitting at a chilly 52°F – that’s a staggering 5°F colder than usual for this time of year, so it’ll feel properly raw. The combined energy is weak, only 358, and it’s labelled as poor surf conditions. Thursday afternoon is just more of the same misery.

Friday the 3rd isn’t any kinder. Morning stays cross-onshore and lumpy with the same 0.6m (2 ft) SW swell. The afternoon brings a shift to a short-period 1.3m (4 ft) NW windswell (only 8 seconds), but the wind is still cross-onshore at 19 mph (30 km/h). Combined energy bumps to 397, but the description is still “poor surf conditions.”

Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th go through the motions with messy 1.3m to 1.7m (4 to 6 ft) NW windswell, short periods between 6 and 8 seconds, and persistent cross-shore winds. The combined energy climbs a bit – hitting 605 on Sunday afternoon – but it’s all lumpy, cross-chop garbage. Not a window of clean surf anywhere.

Monday the 6th through Wednesday the 8th keep the pattern of average-sized NW swell (1.2m to 1.4m, about 4 to 5 ft) and cross-onshore winds. The combined energy actually gets moderate, reaching 955 on Tuesday morning, but the wind is still ruining any chance of quality. It’s just choppy and messy.

From Thursday the 9th all the way through to the end of the period on Friday the 17th of July, the story doesn’t change. You’ll see waves in the water – mostly around 0.5m to 1.8m (2 to 6 ft), with a mix of NW windswell and long-period SW groundswells – but every single entry in the forecast is marked as “poor surf conditions.” The winds never let up, staying either cross or cross-onshore, mostly from the NNW or NW, at 12 to 25 mph (20 to 40 km/h). The combined energy fluctuates, hitting 882 on Monday the 6th afternoon and 865 on Wednesday the 8th afternoon, but it doesn’t matter – the wind and chop just kill any chance of a decent wave. The water temp anomaly isn’t recorded for most of the period, so I can’t comment on later shifts, but the initial cold snap was a shocker.

With this beach-and-reef setup and consistent onshore wind, honestly, this looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing right now. There’s energy, but it’s all blown out.

Hang in there – it tends not to stay this poor forever, and forecasts can change. But as it stands, leave the board on the car for a while.

Rusty

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