Higgins Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what Higgins Beach has in store for us over the next couple of weeks. I gotta be straight with you – it's a rough forecast. We're looking at a long, painful stretch of small, weak, and generally messy surf with almost nothing to get excited about. There's a long gap of poor conditions before we see anything even worth mentioning.

The water is sitting at 65°F right now, which is a touch warmer than normal for late August, but that's about the only thing that's working in our favour early on.

We kick off on Thursday 27 August with waves around 3ft to 3ft from the SE, but the wind is a cross-onshore southerly at 12 to 15 mph, chopping it all up. The combined swell energy is only 122 (moderate wave energy) and the 'wave comment' says it all: "poor surf conditions". This is flat-out unsurfable. That same sad story runs all the way through the end of August, with nothing but cross-shore breezes, tiny swell, and weak energy readings dropping down into the 20s. Saturday 30 August is a total write-off with only 1ft waves and clean conditions, but it's just too small.

We roll into September with hardly any change. Monday 1st September has a bit more energy at 95 (weak wave energy) but a sloppy, short-period 4ft wave from the east with a cross-onshore wind. Still garbage.

Finally, there’s a tiny flicker on Wednesday 2nd September. The morning glass-off with an ENE breeze at just 3 mph delivers the cleanest we’ll see. The swell is 5ft from the east, period is a short 7 seconds, and the combined energy jumps to 196 (moderate wave energy). The report calls it "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions". It’s not good by any standard, but in this dead run, it’s the best we get. If you’re desperate, that Wednesday morning window is your only chance for a few grovelly ones.

The following day, Thursday 3rd September, has another glassy window in the afternoon, but the swell drops to 3ft. After that, it’s back to small, onshore slop for the rest of the 16-day window. A couple of clean cross-off days around Friday 4th and Saturday 5th September see solid 18-19 mph winds, but the swell is tiny, barely 2ft to 3ft. The energy is in the dumps, between 35 and 129. There's a slight bump on Monday 7th September with 4ft south swell and energy up to 168, but it’s cross-onshore again. The whole thing just fizzles out.

Look, this is one of those blank runs for Higgins Beach. Consistent it might be, but consistently poor. There’s nothing here for beginners, and definitely nothing for experts. Unless you’re a kite surfer and want to make the most of some clean, strong cross-off winds on tiny waves, there’s no reason to paddle out.

Rusty, signing off.

Read more