Holden Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, it’s Rusty here. Let’s be straight up – Holden Beach is in for a rough stretch. The next three weeks are looking pretty bleak, with only a couple of tiny windows where you might even bother paddling out. We’ve got a long, long gap of poor conditions ahead, so don’t get your hopes up.

The pattern is stubborn: a persistent southerly to southwesterly wind regime, with most days delivering cross-onshore chop that’s wrecking any chance of a clean wave. The swell energy is weak to moderate at best, with the combined energy bouncing around (38) to (209), but it’s all windswell with short periods of 5 to 7 seconds. That means weak, lumpy, and unappealing surf. The water’s sitting at a warm 83°, which is about average for this time of year.

Let’s run through the dates, because there’s almost nothing to get excited about. From Monday 6th July all the way through to Sunday 12th July, it’s a write-off. Every session is marked as “poor surf conditions” – think choppy, cross-onshore, and messy. Even when the swell bumps up to 5ft on Wednesday afternoon (8th July) with moderate energy (152), the wind’s still junk.

Monday 13th July morning finally sees a shift – a cross-offshore breeze from the NNW at 12 mph cleans things up a bit, but the swell is tiny at 3ft from the SSW, period just 6 seconds, and energy a weak (60). The afternoon is the same story: clean with a light offshore, but only 3ft and a 5-second period with (64) energy. It’s surfable, but barely. That’s the best we’ve got for the first week, and that’s saying something.

The next real glimmer doesn’t come until Monday 20th July. On that morning, we get a glassy, dead-calm session with 3ft of SSE swell, 5-second period, and weak energy (49). It’s tiny and the period is short, but at least it’s not blown out. The next morning, Tuesday 21st July, is the other standout: glassy conditions again, 3ft from the SE at a 6-second period, with moderate energy (80). For this stretch, that’s about as good as it gets – clean, but still small and weak.

Honestly, the whole period is a struggle. There are no big swells, no long-period groundswells, and the wind hardly ever cooperates. If you’re desperate, the mornings of 20th and 21st July are your best bet, but don’t expect much. For a better option, you’d be looking at kite surfing on the bigger, windier afternoons like Wednesday 16th July when the wind’s cross-shore and the swell hits 5ft with strong energy (209) – that setup would be more fun with a kite than a paddle.

Keep it locked, but don’t hold your breath. The second week is just more of the same – small, short-period swell and onshore junk. Hopefully the forecasts shift.

Rusty.

Read more