LBI Long Beach Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let's have a look at what’s on offer for Long Beach Island.

The next couple of weeks are going to be a real test of patience. We’ve got a stretch of small, weak surf ahead, and honestly, for most of this window, you’d be better off finding something else to do. Water temps are sitting at 78°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year, so at least a paddle won’t be a shock to the system.

We kick things off with a bit of a dud. Sunday the 16th has some small, choppy waves with a cross-on wind, just poor conditions. The next few days are more of the same – tiny surf with energy levels barely registering (39, 71, 50...). The best of this weak stretch looks like Monday morning and afternoon on the 17th. We’ve got a clean, glassy afternoon with a light offshore breeze and ankle-to-knee high waves. It’s not going to win any awards, but it’s about the only time you won’t be fighting a complete mess. The swell is from the SSE with a short period of 6 seconds, so it’s just not got any push to it.

The middle of the week is where it gets truly bleak. Wednesday through Saturday, the swell drops right out. We’re looking at knee-high waves at best, and the energy readings are bottoming out (36, 34, 23). Thursday the 20th has a strong NW cross-off wind which would be great if there was any swell to groom, but with a peak of 1ft (34), there’s nothing to surf.

Just when you think it can’t get smaller, we roll into the weekend of the 23rd and 24th. Sunday is a complete write-off with onshore breezes and waves that are barely breaking. The energy is pitiful (37, 45). Monday the 24th does have some clean, offshore wind, but again, the swell is a tiny 1ft from the SE. It’s surfable, but only just. You’d be scratching for anything.

Now, the interesting part. Around the 26th and 27th, the energy readings start to jump, even though the on-the-books wave heights stay small. By the morning of Thursday the 27th, we see the energy jump to a solid 179, with a long-period swell from the SE (12 seconds). This is the standout window. The wind is a cross-off, and it’s clean. However, this is a long-period swell for a sandbar setup like LBI. It might break a little straight and fat, but there’s finally some legitimate push behind it. This is one of the better periods on offer for anyone who can read a beach break. There’s also a similar energy spike on Wednesday afternoon the 26th (142) but with onshore winds, it’ll be messy.

The gap in any real quality from the start until that 27th is a long one – about a week and a half of marginal slop. After that, things level out again. The last few days of August and into the 31st see a return to small, clean but weak surf, with energy dropping back to the 40s and 50s. This run looks like it’s more for the longboard or the bodyboard.

So, to keep it simple: it’s mostly flat, a little bumpy, and a lot of waiting. The one real stand-out is the morning of Thursday, August 27th. It’s not big, but it’s clean, has some energy behind it, and is about as good as it’s going to get. Keep your expectations low for anything else and you might just catch a fun one.

Rusty.

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