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

Alright folks, Rusty here, looking at the surf for Gold Beach/South Park/Hunter Creek. Gotta be straight with ya – this stretch of coastline is set to be a tough beat over the next couple of weeks. The forecast doesn't have a single good session, so we're gonna be watching the ocean do its thing more than riding it.

Right off the bat, the first possible surf we see is Sunday the 5th of July, but it's a write-off. We've got a 4ft to 5ft NW swell, but the period is a weak 8 seconds, so there's no shape to it. The wind is a consistent NNW at 16 mph, cross to cross-on, and the water is absolutely frigid at 52°, which is 4° colder than normal – that's a very unusual chill for this time of year. The wave energy is moderate but messy (411 to 637).

That pattern basically locks in for the entire first week. Through Monday the 6th, Tuesday the 7th, Wednesday the 8th, all the way through Saturday the 12th, every session is blown out. The winds stay NNW, fresh to strong, with speeds up to 25 mph on Thursday the 9th. Swells bounce around from 2ft to 5ft, with periods either short (8 sec) or long and straight (18-20 sec) which is just no good for a beach and reef setup like this. The water temp anomaly only shows for that first morning, but it's a sign of how off things are.

We hit a small pocket of almost-surf on Monday the 13th of July. There's a 2ft swell from the SW with a 14-second period, and a light NW breeze at 6 mph. The combined energy is a weak 288. The forecast calls it "marginal," and honestly, that's the best we're going to get. That tiny window closes fast as the wind picks up in the afternoon.

From Tuesday the 14th through to the end of the run on Monday the 20th, it's a total blank. The swell never builds cleanly, the wind never drops, and it stays cross-on or cross-shore and lumpy. There's a late pulse of 6ft NW swell on Saturday the 18th, but it's dogged by a fresh 19 mph cross-on wind and a short 8-second period, creating nothing but slop.

This is a classic tough stretch for the area. With the wind hammering from the NNW for days on end and the swell quality being this poor, even the fairly consistent reputation of Gold Beach can't save it. Honestly, with this much wind and chop on a beach-and-reef setup, it's looking more like a kite-surfing zone than a paddle-surfing zone. You’re better off waiting for a better forecast. Keep an eye on it, it can't stay this bad forever... but for now, there's just nothing to get excited about.

Rusty.

Read more