Long Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto mate, Rusty here. Gotta be honest with you – it’s not the most exciting start to the outlook, but there are a couple of really promising windows if you’re patient.

Long Beach is a sandbar set-up that’s fairly consistent, but the first few days are mostly marginal. Tuesday morning (25 August) sees a clean 8ft SW groundswell (14 seconds) with cross-off winds, and the water temp is 58°, which feels a bit colder than normal for this time of year. The combined energy is right up there at 2549 – so there’s plenty of push – but the forecast warns of questionable tide conditions. It’s probably not firing properly.

Wednesday afternoon (26 August) is where we start to see an improvement: 4ft WSW groundswell (12 seconds) and gentle cross-off breezes, making for very clean surf. The energy is moderate (1440), and it’s the first session that actually looks inviting.

Thursday morning (27 August) is a write-off with poor surf and onshore northerlies. The afternoon improves slightly with a 5ft S swell (11 seconds) and light cross-breezes, but it’s still only marginal.

The standout for the first week comes on Saturday afternoon (29 August). Offshore S winds at 9 mph, combined with a 6ft WSW swell (14 seconds) and strong energy (1616) – the conditions should be clean and set for good shape. That’s the pick of the early run.

Sunday and Monday (30-31 August) are a bit of a letdown with fresh cross-off breezes and 6-7ft WSW swell, but the wind keeps things from being great. Monday afternoon (31 August) sees a moderate offshore breeze and clean 6ft swell (11 seconds) – still solid but not spectacular.

Then comes the real monster window. Tuesday afternoon (1 September) bumps up to an 12ft SW swell (13 seconds) with light cross winds, and the energy jumps to 3890. That’s a powerful, solid swell – but the tide conditions are still flagged as marginal. By Wednesday (2 September), we’re looking at 12-13ft WSW swells with energy topping 5018. The afternoon brings a strong offshore at 25 mph, making conditions clean but extremely challenging – that’s expert territory only.

Thursday (3 September) pushes even higher with 16ft SSW swell (11-12 seconds) and energy past 8744. The winds are strong cross-off, so you’re getting clean faces, but that size is serious. Only for the very experienced.

For the best bang-for-your-buck, Friday morning (4 September) is the sweet spot. Swell drops to a still-chunky 8ft SSE (10 seconds), with light cross-off breezes and clean conditions. The energy is 2691 – still solid – and this is rated excellent for experienced surfers. If you’re good, that’s your session.

After that, things wind down. Saturday (5 September) has 8-7ft SE swell with stronger breezes, and a late-period SW groundswell (19 seconds) on Saturday afternoon that pumps energy to 4010 but might feel a bit roly-poly. Sunday (6 September) offers a 6ft SW groundswell (15 seconds) with light wind – pretty clean, and the afternoon is very good with another 5ft SW swell and light breezes.

Monday (7 September) and Tuesday (8 September) fade to 3-4ft WSW swells with improving but light winds. By Wednesday (9 September), it’s 4-6ft WSW swells but fresh cross-off winds, meaning it’s clean but not exceptional.

Overall, the best window is Saturday 29 August afternoon, and then if you’re experienced, Friday morning 4 September is the real standout. The big stuff from 1-3 September is only for experts.

Stay safe, read the tides, and I’ll see you out there.

Rusty.

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