Higgins Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, checking in on Higgins Beach.

Honestly, for the next couple of weeks, we’re looking at a pretty quiet stretch. There are no standouts in the immediate future, and we’ve got a long dry spell before anything gets interesting. The first real chance of something worth paddling out for doesn't come until the middle of the second week, so don't get your hopes up too soon.

Looking at the whole forecast, the water temp at Higgins Beach is sitting around 66°F, which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year. That’s a nice little bonus if you’re just going for a dip, but the waves are mostly a no-show.

We start off on Saturday, August 29th, with a small 3ft SE swell. It’s clean in the morning with a light offshore wind, making it surfable, but it’s ordinary. Then the wind swings around onshore in the afternoon and it gets choppy. The next few days are a total write-off with tiny, weak swell (combined energy in the 16 to 74 range) and poor conditions. Sunday morning the 31st is particularly grim with just 1.0ft and glassy conditions, but it’s barely a ripple.

There is a slight pulse of energy on Wednesday, September 2nd, but it’s a short-period, onshore mess. The first hint of something bigger shows up on Thursday, September 3rd, with 6ft swell from the SSE, but the wind is howling onshore at 19 mph. That’s just choppy and lumpy. The combined energy hits 251 (moderate), but the conditions are awful. That pattern holds through the first week of September – a few moderate energy swells in the 99 to 161 range, but always with a cross or onshore wind. Not worth it.

Now, the real standout in this whole forecast is Wednesday, September 9th. It's a long way out, so treat it as promising but not locked in, but hear me out. The afternoon session looks like the only true window. We’ve got a clean 7ft SSE swell with a cross-offshore breeze. The combined energy is strong at 341, and the wind will be clean. The caveat here is that 7ft swell is getting into the expert-only territory for most, so if you’re not comfortable in bigger surf, this one’s not for you. It’s also a longer-period groundswell at 6 seconds, which is okay, but it’s that size and the clean wind that makes it the pick of the bunch. The morning of the 9th is also clean with 5ft, but the afternoon has more size and is the best-rated option in the whole forecast.

After that, we’ve got some smaller swells and onshore winds again, with a final brief window on Friday, September 11th, with a glassy morning and 3ft from the SSE, but it’s a weak 90 combined energy and ordinary. Then it fizzles out.

So to sum it up: you’ve got a gap of over a week with no real surf before that Wednesday, September 9th afternoon window. If you’re an experienced surfer, that’s your one to circle. For everyone else, it’s a long wait for nothing much.

Rusty.

Read more