Isle of Palms Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – the next couple of weeks at Isle of Palms Pier are lookin’ pretty flat and sad for us surfers. Don’t get your hopes up.

The whole 16-day window is a tough one. We’ve got a long stretch of tiny, weak swell and more often than not, the wind is gonna mess things up. The water is sitting at 30°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – feels like a bath.

First up, Monday the 10th. We’ve got a tiny 0.4m (about 1ft) SE swell with a short 7-second period, giving us a combined energy of just (17). That’s barely a ripple. A light WSW breeze in the morning will have it lookin’ clean, but it’s just too small to ride.

Tuesday the 11th, the swell shifts to the SSW and drops to a measly 0.4m (1ft) with a super short 4-second period (energy 14). Afternoon winds pick up, bringing in chop.

Wednesday the 12th is more of the same – 0.4m (1ft) SSW at 5 seconds (energy 11). Clean in the morning but gutless. You’ll be sitting on your board doing nothing.

Thursday the 13th through to the 18th? Honestly, it’s a write-off. We’re talking consistently 0.3m (1ft) to 0.5m (2ft) of weak, short-period slop. Wind is mostly cross or cross-on, so it’s gonna be choppy and messy. There’s no power, no push. You can leave the boards in the garage.

We finally see a little flicker of life on Wednesday the 19th. The swell direction goes more ESE, the period stretches out to 13 seconds in the morning and then a nice 12 seconds in the afternoon. That’s a proper long-period groundswell. The combined energy jumps to (56) in the morning and then a more promising (132) in the afternoon, with a swell height of 0.6m (2ft). But here’s the kicker – the wind is howlin’ from the ENE at 25 km/h (about 16 mph), right onshore. It’s gonna be a choppy mess. That’s the best we get, and it’s ruined by the wind.

The end of the month, around Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd, we get a little bump from the SSW again, but it’s back to short-period windswell. Sunday the 23rd morning goes glassy (energy 26) with a 0.5m (2ft) wave, but it’s still just 5 seconds. You might get a knee-high roller.

Monday the 24th is the biggest we see, with the swell finally getting to 0.9m (3ft) in the morning and 1.1m (4ft) in the afternoon from the SSW (energy 86 and 98). The period is still short at 6 seconds, and we’ve got risk of thunderstorms and onshore wind. It’s not going to be good.

Truth is, there's no standout day. Not a single one. For the first week, it’s a total blank. The second week offers a brief pulse of energy that gets ruined by onshore wind. This spot is inconsistent at the best of times, and this run is a prime example of that. It’s so poor, you might wanna consider something else, because the wind and the small, weak swell would make this setup more interesting for a kite surfer than anyone with a paddle. I hate to say it, but the forecasts can change. That’s all I’ve got.

Rusty.

Read more