Holden Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you right off the bat – this outlook for Holden Beach is a tough one. We’re looking at a long, drawn-out stretch of poor conditions with no real standout surf on offer for the next 16 days. The forecast is pretty much a bust for decent waves, so if you’re hanging for a paddle, you might be waiting a while.

The first good news comes late, but even then it’s not great. We’ve got a gap of over a week of flat, weak, or choppy surf before anything even catches your eye. For the first week and a half, it’s all about tiny, messy swells with onshore or cross-shore winds. The wave energy is next to nothing, often bouncing around between 30 and 70 (combined energy), which is weak. The water temp is sitting at 84°, which is about 2° warmer than usual for this time of year – a bit of a warm bath, but not unusual.

Holden Beach itself is an exposed S-facing beach break, and it’s inconsistent at the best of times. The main issue is that the wind is mostly cross-onshore or onshore, and the swell direction is a poor match for the spot’s optimum S direction. Expect a lot of choppy, lumpy, and generally poor surf conditions. The only brief window of clean conditions might be on Sunday the 12th, with a light offshore N wind in the morning, but the swell is barely 3 ft and the period is a short, weak 6 seconds. It’s clean but tiny.

As we move into the second week, the swell does pick up a bit around the 23rd and 24th of July, with heights pushing 4 ft to 5 ft. The combined energy starts to climb into three digits (149-164), which is moderate, but the wind is still onshore or cross-onshore, and the period is stuck at 6 seconds. It’s a bit of a tease – more water moving but still messy.

The biggest bump comes on the 25th of July, a Saturday morning, with a 6 ft swell from the SSW and a combined energy of 436 – that’s a strong push of energy. But again, the wind is a fresh cross-onshore at 15-18 mph, making it choppy and lumpy. The period is only 7 seconds, so it’s a short-period wind swell, not the clean lines you want. At this size, it’s starting to get too big for beginners, but the quality is so poor it’s not going to be fun for anyone except maybe a kite surfer looking for some wind.

Overall, there’s no true standout here. The conditions are consistently poor, the break is inconsistent, and the wind never cooperates. It’s a blank run for paddle surfing. The only real positive is that the water is about average temperature-wise, and the forecasts can always change, but for now, save your energy.

Rusty.

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