Irmas/Leftpoint Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – this 16-day window is shaping up to be a tough one. We’re looking at a long stretch of messy, wind-affected surf before anything remotely rideable shows up at the end. Let’s get into it.

The only real option on the entire menu is Irmas/Leftpoint, a reef break that’s fairly consistent. To start, we’ve got a massive run of poor conditions. For the first five days, from Sunday the 16th through to Thursday the 20th, it’s just not worth paddling out. We’re dealing with onshore and cross-shore winds punching up a nasty lumpy chop, and the swell quality is zero. Sunday morning the 16th does have a big 12 ft easterly swell, but with a 22 mph onshore wind hammering it, and moderate energy readings (2,792), it’s a complete write-off. The water temp is sitting at 81°, which is about average for this time of year.

We then slide into a real dead zone. From Friday the 21st of August all the way through to Tuesday the 26th, it’s the same story: cross-shore winds, generally fresh breezes, and small to moderate choppy surf that’s just not offering anything clean. The swell energy stays mostly low to moderate (between 92 and 1,144). The wind never swings offshore, so the face stays lumpy. The biggest disappointment is that even when the swell ticks up to 8 ft on Wednesday the 26th, the 25 mph cross-shore wind makes it a messy, blown-out mess best left for the kite crew.

Now, if you’ve got the patience of a saint and a quiver of step-ups, there’s a glimmer in the very long range. On Thursday the 27th of August, the swell builds to a solid 10 ft from the ENE with a 10-second period, and the combined energy jumps to a strong 2,132. That’s a proper amount of water moving. But – and this is a big but – we still have those relentless 22 mph cross-shore winds. While the size is there for experts, the quality is absolutely not. The setup looks far more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Friday the 28th of August brings the biggest push of the whole period: a 13 ft easterly swell at 9 seconds, with wave energy reading a very strong 2,621. That is a lot of ocean energy, and for Irmas/Leftpoint, that’s a heavy, powerful reef slab. But again, we’re stuck with a cross-shore 22 mph wind. It’ll be big and powerful, but blown out and unruly.

The outlook then fades back down, with a smaller 8 ft on Saturday the 29th and a 2 ft groundswell from the south-southwest on Sunday the 30th. That tiny 2 ft swell has a very long period of 17 seconds, but we still have a 22 mph cross-shore wind, and the break is exposed to the east, not the south. It’s a total mismatch.

Honestly, for the whole 16 days, there’s no standout session. The swell gets heavy at times, especially on the 28th, but the persistent wind ruining it. If you have to get wet, the best chance for a semi-clean wave at Irmas might be the morning of Saturday the 22nd of August. It’s a smaller 4 ft from the ENE with a light cross-onshore breeze and very low energy (221), and it’s only rated a 1 out of 10. It’s marginal, but it’s the least terrible option out there.

Stay patient, wait for a shift in the wind, and don’t force it.

Rusty.

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