Surf Forecasts:
Hobe Sound/The Refuge surf forecast from 20 Aug 2026:
- Most powerful swell: Thursday 27 Aug, 8AM (local time) - 2.5ft (0.8m), 4s period, SE swell with 24 kJ wave energy.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Hobe Sound/The Refuge this week:
The most powerful waves expected at Hobe Sound/The Refuge in the next 16 days are 0.8m 4s and forecast to arrive on Thursday (Aug 27) at 8AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.6m 4s period and expected on Sunday (Aug 23) at 5AM.
| Wave Type | Time (EDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | - | - |
| Best Surf | - | - |
| Most Powerful | 8AM (Thu 27th Aug) | 2.5ft (0.8m) 4s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Hobe Sound/The Refuge over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’m gonna level with you. The next couple of weeks at Hobe Sound/The Refuge are looking pretty flat and quiet. We’ve got a long stretch of days with hardly any swell to speak of, and when there is a tiny bump, the conditions are mostly ordinary. The water temp is sitting right around average for this time of year, so nothing unusual there.
The first real glimmer of anything happens on the morning of Friday the 28th of August. We’ve got a small 3ft swell coming from the southeast, with a short period of just 5 seconds. The combined swell energy is still weak at 94, and the wind is glassy – that’s a major positive. The morning will be clean, but the waves are tiny and the quality is just "surfable but very ordinary." It’s a small window, but for a dedicated soul, it’s the best we’ve got for a while. The Refuge is a beach and reef setup, exposed to the swell, but with this tiny size, it’s not going to be too challenging for intermediates. Crowds are sometimes possible, so keep an eye out.
After that, the next notable event is on the morning of Monday the 31st of August. There’s a 4ft swell from the southeast, again with a short 5-second period, and the combined energy is 67 – still weak. The wind is glassy again, so it’ll be clean. The same story: small, ordinary, but a chance to get wet.
Honestly, from now until the 28th of August, it’s a long gap of poor surf. The 20th through the 27th are all showing "poor surf conditions" or just flat. The swell barely reaches 2ft most days, and there’s a lot of cross-onshore wind and afternoon storms. Even the 1st of September onwards is more of the same – tiny, short-period swells and clean mornings but no real energy.
There’s a tiny spike in energy on the morning of Thursday the 27th of August, with a 3ft swell from the southeast and a 5-second period, but the combined energy is only 46 and the wind is cross-onshore, so it’ll be choppy. Not worth getting excited about.
If you’re a kite surfer, the afternoons with a bit of breeze and a tiny chop might be more interesting than paddle surfing, but for a proper wave, we’re really waiting for those late-month glassy mornings. The best on offer is the morning of Friday the 28th of August, and maybe the morning of Monday the 31st of August. Keep your expectations low, but the glassy conditions are a blessing.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastModerate rain (total 17mm), heaviest on Thu afternoon. Warm (max 31°C on Thu afternoon, min 26°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryModerate rain (total 13mm), heaviest on Sun night. Warm (max 30°C on Sun afternoon, min 26°C on Sun morning). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Thursday 20 | Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | Sunday 23 | Monday 24 | Tuesday 25 | Wednesday 26 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 8 | E 8 | ENE 8 | SSE 4 | ENE 8 | S 4 | ENE 9 | ENE 8 | SSE 4 | SE 4 | ENE 8 | SE 4 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | SE 4 | SSE 4 | NE 8 | SE 4 | SE 4 | SE 4 | ESE 4 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 5 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | glassy | on | cross | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | glassy | cross-on | cross | cross-on | on | cross-on | cross-on | on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross |
High Tide | 2:20PM0.87m | 2:25AM0.84m | 3:20PM0.84m | 3:24AM0.83m | 4:22PM0.85m | 4:25AM0.84m | 5:20PM0.88m | 5:22AM0.87m | 6:10PM0.93m | 6:13AM0.91m | 6:54PM0.98m | 7:00AM0.96m | 7:34PM1.03m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 8:17AM0.17m | 8:47PM0.32m | 9:15AM0.20m | 9:46PM0.34m | 10:12AM0.21m | 10:42PM0.34m | 11:05AM0.19m | 11:34PM0.31m | 11:53AM0.16m | 00:21AM0.28m | 12:36PM0.13m | 1:03AM0.23m | 1:17PM0.10m | 1:41AM0.18m | |||||||
 |  |  | | | | | | | |  | | | |  | | | | | |  | |
 | 6:54 | — | — | 6:54 | — | — | 6:54 | — | — | 6:54 | — | — | 6:54 | — | — | 6:56 | — | — | 6:56 | — | — |
 | — | 7:52 | — | — | 7:52 | — | — | 7:51 | — | — | 7:50 | — | — | 7:49 | — | — | 7:47 | — | — | 7:46 | — |
mm | — | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | — | 2 | 2 | — | 3 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Temp °C | 30 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 30 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 29 |
Feels °C | 35 | 35 | 32 | 31 | 35 | 32 | 33 | 35 | 31 | 33 | 32 | 30 | 33 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 33 | 33 | 31 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 8 | E 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | SSE 4 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | SE 4 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | S 4 | E 8 | E 8 | SSE 4 | NE 7 | NE 7 | E 7 | E 7 |
| kJ | 5 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | NE 6 | NE 6 | E 8 | E 8 | E 8 | E 6 | ENE 9 | E 8 | E 8 | ENE 8 | E 7 | E 7 | S 4 | ENE 8 | NE 8 | NE 7 | NE 8 | E 7 | E 10 | E 10 | E 16 |
| kJ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 8 | E 8 | NE 5 | — | NE 7 | E 9 | NE 6 | E 13 | E 13 | E 8 | E 12 | E 12 | ESE 3 | E 9 | E 8 | E 8 | E 8 | E 11 | E 7 | E 10 | E 11 |
| kJ | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | SSE 3 | SSE 4 | SSE 4 | S 4 | — | SE 3 | SSE 4 | — | SE 4 | SE 4 | SE 4 | ESE 4 | SE 4 | SSE 4 | ESE 4 | SE 4 | SE 4 | SE 4 | ESE 4 |
| kJ | — | — | 2 | 10 | 3 | 9 | — | 2 | 11 | — | 4 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 395 | 395 | 1258 | 1258 | 875 | 1004 | 454 | 697 | 220 | 308 | 697 | 402 | 112 | 583 | 377 | 112 | 244 | 875 | 308 | 875 | 1585 |
Best forecast wave conditions in South Florida | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Hobe Sound/The Refuge surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Hobe Sound/The Refuge Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Hobe Sound/The Refuge provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Hobe Sound/The Refuge can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Hobe Sound/The Refuge surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Hobe Sound/The Refuge) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Hobe Sound/The Refuge may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Hobe Sound/The Refuge is 14 km (9 miles) from Palm City. If you plan a vacation in South Florida, look for hotels and other accommodation in Palm City. Palm City has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest