Oceanic Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at the 16-day surf picture for Oceanic Pier. Gotta be honest with you – this one’s a real struggle. The whole stretch is looking flat and pretty lifeless, so we’re in for a long, quiet run.

For the first nine days, from Sunday the 5th of July right through to Monday the 13th, there’s barely a whisper of swell. We’re talking ankle-snappers at best, with wave heights stuck between 0.7ft and 3ft, and the combined energy is weak – often down around the teens or twenties. The swell direction is mostly from the SE, with periods between 5 and 10 seconds, so it’s short-period, weak stuff. The water temperature is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual there. There’s a few windows of clean conditions with light offshore or cross-offshore breezes, particularly Tuesday afternoon the 7th with a WSW breeze, or Thursday morning the 9th with a light SW wind, but there’s just no swell to work with. It’s heartbreaking because the conditions would be beautiful otherwise.

Moving into the second week, from Tuesday the 14th July on, there’s a slight bump in the energy numbers, but it’s still poor surf. The 14th sees the combined energy hit 77 and then 46 on the Tuesday, but the swell is either a weak 1ft from the SE or a short-period 3ft from the ENE, and the winds start getting messy with onshore and cross-shore winds making it choppy. Wednesday the 15th through Saturday the 18th is more of the same – tiny waves and poor surf. There are a few clean mornings with a light offshore breeze, like Wednesday morning the 15th with a WNW breeze, but again, the swell just isn’t there. The combined energy stays under 40 for most of the rest of the run. The last day we’ve got data for, Monday the 20th, actually shows a 3ft swell from the S with a 6-second period and the combined energy climbing to 94, which is the best we get – but that’s still small, short-period, and the surf quality is still marked as poor.

Truth is, there’s nothing worth paddling out for in this 16-day window. No standouts. No days with good surf. The only positive note is that Oceanic Pier is ‘sometimes’ crowded, but with waves like this, it’ll be empty. A few sessions might be interesting for a kite surfer if the wind is up and the small chop is there, but for us paddle surfers, it’s a blank run. That’s just how it is sometimes around here.

Stay patient, keep an eye on the charts, and hopefully the next run brings something real.

Rusty.

Read more