Hollywood Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you – this is not a classic run for Hollywood Beach. We’ve got a long, quiet spell ahead before any real energy shows up. The first recommendable surf doesn’t appear until Thursday morning, 20th August, so that’s a solid six days of nothing worth paddling out for. After that, it’s mostly small and messy, with a late pulse of size arriving in the final week of the outlook.

Starting off, from Friday 14th through to Wednesday 19th August, it’s all poor conditions. Swell is tiny – mostly around 2 ft to 3 ft with a very long period SSW groundswell (14 to 18 seconds), but the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, making a mess of it. The combined wave energy barely nudges above 200 up to 519 on the Friday afternoon, but the wind state ruins any chance of clean waves. You’d be wasting your time.

Thursday morning, 20th August, is the first real glimmer. The wind swings glassy – SW at just 3 mph, dead calm. Swell is only 2 ft from the SSW with a 14-second period, and the combined energy is 190, which is weak. The wave comment says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions,” so you could get a few clean little ones on a longboard. Crowds are possible here – Hollywood Beach can be busy. Water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual. But don’t get too excited; this is a tiny window.

From Friday 21st through to Tuesday 26th August, we’re back to small, weak surf (1.0 ft to 2 ft) with onshore or cross-onshore winds. The period drops to 9-18 seconds, but the direction swings through W, SSW, SW and even SSE. Combined energy is anywhere from 91 to 288, all weak. The conditions are poor or marginal – this is a kite-surfing stretch, not a paddle-surfing one.

Then, Thursday 27th August morning, things finally look up. A new S swell arrives at 5 ft with a 14-second period, and the combined energy jumps to 1314, which is strong. Wind is cross-onshore from the S at 6 mph – light, with small ripples. The wave comment is still “marginal,” but this is the first real pulse. Friday 28th August morning pushes up to 7 ft from the S, period 14 seconds, combined energy 1594 – very strong. Wind is light onshore from the WSW at 6 mph. That’s big enough for experts only – over 8 ft is expert territory, and this is getting close. Saturday 29th August morning drops to 4 ft from the S, period 11 seconds, combined energy 657, with light onshore wind.

The standout here is Friday morning, 28th August. That 7 ft S swell with strong energy will have some grunt, and the light onshore wind will keep it from being too chopped. But it’s at a beach break with that long-period groundswell, so it might break too straight for the banks. Still, for experienced surfers, that’s the window to circle. Thursday 27th morning is a solid second pick. For the rest of this 16-day run, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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