Holden Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are a real scratch for surf along this stretch. We’re looking at a long, drawn-out run of small, messy, onshore slop for most of the period, with only a couple of brief windows where it might be worth paddling out. Don’t get too excited, but there are a couple of mornings that’ll have you at least thinking about it.

The outlook starts off pretty grim. From Tuesday the 18th right through to the 24th, it’s pretty much all poor surf conditions. We’ve got tiny waves, mostly under 3 feet, coming from the southeast and south, with periods all over the shop, mainly short and weak. The wind is mostly cross-onshore or straight onshore, which is going to chop up anything that tries to show. The combined energy is weak to moderate, sitting around the 40-90 mark throughout, which tells you there’s just nothing doing. It’s a bleak run, a solid week of small dribble and wind chop.

The first time the surf even gets close to interesting is the morning of Tuesday the 25th. The wind drops right out, and we’ve got glassy conditions at Holden Beach. The swell is still tiny, just 3 feet from the south with a short 6-second period, and the energy is still weak at 69. It’s not a day for a quiver of boards, it’s a day for the groveler. It’s surfable, but very ordinary, with clean little lines. It’s not a standout, just a welcome break from the onshores. It’ll be a bit of a bog-slog, but if you’re desperate for a paddle, that’s your window.

Then we slide back into more of the same for the rest of that week, with poor conditions and onshores returning. The swell height drops back to almost nothing, but on Wednesday the 26th, we see a shift in the swell direction to the SSE, and the period jumps right up to 15-16 seconds. This is a long-period groundswell, but with a tiny height of just 2 to 2 feet, and cross-onshore winds, it’s not going to produce anything worthwhile. The energy is now moderate, reading 168-176, but that’s all that’s happening. It’s just a tease of some proper swell energy with no size behind it.

We then head into the weekend of the 28th and 29th, and this is where things get a little more interesting. The morning of Friday the 28th has the wind turning offshore from the north, which will clean things right up. The swell has bumped to 4 feet, but it’s a short-period 6-second swell coming from the SSW. It’s clean, sure, but it’s going to be a bit all over the place, a peaky, jumbled mess. The energy is moderate at 159, but it’s not the cleanest. The surf is still only rated as ‘surfable but very ordinary’. That offshore wind is a big positive for the texture, but the short period and direction just don’t do it any favors at this exposed beach.

The morning of Saturday the 29th is similar story, with a clean, glassy texture and a north offshore wind, but the swell drops back to 2 feet with a 9-second period from the SE. It’s clean, but tiny and weak. Another grovel session.

Looking further out to the end of the month, the 30th and 31st, and into September 1st and 2nd, we’re back to mostly weak, small, and underpowered conditions. There are moments of glassy wind, but the swell stays small and the energy is consistently weak, under 80. There’s no real size on the horizon, and the long-range picture looks like a whole lot of nothing for surfers.

So here’s the honest truth: the best surf on offer in this whole 16-day window is probably the clean but junky 4 feet on the morning of Friday the 28th. It’s not big, it’s not powerful, but with that offshore wind, it’ll be the cleanest you’ll see it. The other morning to consider is Tuesday the 25th for a glassy, knee-high dribble. Everything else is a write-off. It’s a tough stretch, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Keep the longboard string out, and wait for the next proper swell.

Rusty.

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