Hatteras Light House Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. I’ve had a good look at what’s coming for Hatteras Light House, and I’ll be straight with you—this is one of those outlooks where you might want to save your wax for another week. The whole 16-day window is a tough stretch, with barely a whisper of proper surf and winds that just won’t play nice.

Let’s start with the overall pattern: we’ve got tiny swell for the entire run, mostly coming from the SE and E, with heights hovering between 1 ft and 3 ft. The combined swell energy is weak for most of it, only nudging into moderate territory with a reading of 141 to 142 on a couple of days—but even then the wave quality is shot. The water temp at the start is sitting at 82°, which is about average for late summer here.

From this Sunday morning (30 August), it’s a write-off. Sunday morning has some clouds, a cross-on breeze from the ENE at 6 mph, and 1 ft of SE swell with a period of 9 seconds. The comment says it best: poor surf conditions. That sets the tone for the whole session. Sunday afternoon and Monday are similarly flat and messy.

Tuesday morning (1 September) gives us the first glimmer—a 2 ft SE swell with a period of 7 seconds and a cross-off breeze from the WSW at 6 mph. It’s surfable but very ordinary, scoring a 1 out of 10 in my book. The water’s clean, but don’t get your hopes up. The combined energy is a weak 43. Tuesday afternoon turns worse with a 12 mph SSW breeze pushing things around.

The rest of the first week runs from 2 September to 5 September with swell never getting above 3 ft, mostly in the 1 ft to 2 ft range. Winds shift between WSW and SW, 12–22 mph, keeping it cross-off but too strong for that tiny bump to do anything. Combined energy dips as low as 13 on the 5th. No standout here.

The second week is a long gap of poor-to-zero surf. From 6 September through to 14 September, we see nothing but 1 ft to 2 ft, mostly cross-on or onshore winds from the NE, ENE, and E, with gusts up to 19 mph. The swell period drops to as low as 4 seconds at times—short period slop that’s unrideable. Even on 12 September, when the combined energy hits 142 with a 3 ft NNE swell, the cross-on wind at 9 mph and a period of only 6 seconds leaves it choppy and poor. The comment keeps repeating the same story: poor surf conditions.

Honestly, the only day I’d even bother paddling out is Tuesday morning (1 September) for that brief clean window. It’s not a standout by any stretch—just the least bad option in a grim line-up. If you’re a beginner, the swell is small and safe, but the quality is so low it’s barely worth the walk to the water.

Given the exposed beach setup here at Hatteras Light House, with consistent but tiny swell and persistent breeze, this stretch looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. There’s no real hope on the horizon in this 16-day window. Forecasts can change, but right now, it’s a flat, frustrating run.

Rusty.

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