Margate Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let me have a look at what’s coming our way for Margate Pier. Gotta be straight with you—this isn’t one of those weeks where you’re racing to get your wetsuit on. The entire 16-day stretch is pretty bleak. We’re looking at a long, dry spell with hardly any surf worth paddling out for.

The real kicker is the water temp. It’s sitting at 77°F right now, which is a massive 4°F warmer than usual for this time of year. That’s already very unusual, so if you do get in the water, it’ll feel like a bath.

We start off Wednesday the 26th and Thursday the 27th with tiny, weak swell around 1ft to 2ft from the SE and ESE, but the wind is a messy cross-on from the S at 12 to 19 mph. That’s just choppy, bumpy slop. Not worth a second look.

Friday the 28th sees a bit of a shift. The wind drops to glassy in the morning and there’s a slight cross-off in the afternoon. Swell is still tiny at 1ft to 2ft from the ESE with a short period of 8 seconds, so it’s weak and gutless. The combined energy is only 62 to 66. You might catch a small, clean wave, but it’s very ordinary. It’s the best of a bad bunch, but that’s not saying much.

From Saturday the 29th right through to Wednesday the 10th of September, it’s a long slog of poor surf conditions. The swell stays small, mostly under 3ft, and the wind is often cross-on or onshore, or just too light to do anything. There are a few clean moments, like on the 31st and 1st with cross-off winds, but the swell is so small and weak—0.3ft to 1ft—that it’s barely rideable. The period is often short, under 8 seconds, so you’re just bobbing around.

There’s a spike in combined energy on the 5th and 6th of September, hitting 115 to 134, with a bit more size at 3ft to 4ft from the E and S. But the wind is a cross-off from the NNW and N at 16 to 19 mph, which keeps it clean. The problem is the swell direction is a bit off, and the period is short (8-9 seconds) or even messy (5 seconds). It’s still classed as “poor surf conditions,” so it’s not going to be a classic.

The very end of the window, on the 10th of September, we finally get a moderate offshore from the WNW at 12 mph, with a clean 3ft to 3ft swell from the SSE and ENE. The combined energy is moderate at 113 to 124, and the period is still short (6 seconds), so it’s not going to be a world-beater, but for this stretch, it’s the best on offer. The wind is offshore, so the waves will be clean, but it’s still only “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.”

Honestly, this is a tough call. There are no true standouts. If you’re desperate, the morning of the 10th of September with that offshore wind might give you a few, but keep expectations low. The rest of the time, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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