JP Luby Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get this straight. Looking at the whole 16-day window, it’s a bit of a flat, weedy stretch for most of it. We’re not talking about any proper swell events or clean, lined-up days. The only spot on the radar is JP Luby Pier, and honestly, it’s a tough sell for most of the period. It’s a beach/pier setup that’s pretty exposed, and the swell direction is always coming from the SE, which is not what this place really wants – it’s looking for something with a bit more south in it.

Right off the bat, Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning (August 3rd and 4th) we’ve got nothing going on. We’re looking at small, weak surf with a cross-onshore breeze making it choppy and messy. The water’s sitting at a normal 83°F for this time of year, so no drama there, but the waves are just not cooperating. The energy’s weak too – down in the 27 to 43 range.

We move through the week and it’s more of the same, really. Small stuff, 3ft to 3ft, short-period wind swell at 5 seconds, and the wind is always on it, either cross-onshore or sometimes just straight on. It’s not going to be a pretty sight. There are a couple of afternoons on Thursday and Friday (August 6th and 7th) where the wind goes more onshore, but the energy is still weak, in the 40s and 50s. The period barely gets to 6 seconds. This is purely wind-chop stuff.

Come the weekend, Saturday morning (August 8th) it goes glassy with a slight air, but it’s tiny at 3ft and the period is still short. It might be clean-ish but it’s not going to give you anything to sink your fins into. The next week is just a grind of poor surf conditions. The swell stays small, the wind stays messy, and the energy readings are consistently in the 30s and 40s with a couple of days hitting the 80s on Thursday and Friday (August 13th and 14th) – but that’s still weak to moderate, and the period is still stuck down at 6 seconds. The waves are just fat and lumpy.

There’s a glimmer of something different right at the end. By Monday and Tuesday of the second week, August 17th and 18th, the swell drops right off to 1ft – 2ft, but the period does stretch out to 8 seconds on that Tuesday morning. It’s actually got a bit more push to it for the size, and the wind is lighter. It might be the cleanest we see in the whole window, but it’s tiny, and the energy is still minimal, down around 56 on that Tuesday morning. For a beginner, this could be a fun little push-around on a foamie, but for anyone with a bit of experience, there’s just nothing to get excited about.

So, honestly, if you’re set on getting wet, your best bet is probably that last Tuesday morning, the 18th, when it’s small but the period’s better and the surface is likely to have less chop. But keep your expectations low. This isn’t a paddle-out kind of stretch. This setup, with the small, weak swell and the constant cross-onshore wind, looks more like it’s tuned for kite surfing than paddle surfing. Nobody’s getting barrelled at JP Luby this fortnight.

Rusty

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