Oceanic Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you. The next 16 days are a tough stretch for Oceanic Pier. Honestly, if you’re looking for a decent wave, you’re going to be left waiting. This is one of those periods where the ocean just isn’t cooperating, and the forecasts aren’t offering much hope for a proper session.

We’re starting on Friday the 23rd of July, and from the get-go it’s a struggle. The swell is tiny—around 1.3ft from the southeast—and the period is short at 8 seconds, so the energy is weak (combined swell energy of just 23). The wind is okay in the morning, but it’s not enough to save the day. It’s the same story through Saturday and into Sunday the 25th. Tiny 2ft swell with a short, weak period. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, nothing unusual there. Crowds are sometimes an issue here, but with conditions this poor, you’ll likely have the lineup to yourself, which is the only positive.

The following week doesn’t get any better. Monday the 27th through Wednesday the 29th sees the swell drop even further, with heights barely reaching 1.6ft and energy values sinking to the single digits. On Wednesday, there’s actually no swell at all for a session. The wind turns offshore at times, which is nice for the surface, but there’s simply no push to work with. This is a flat spell, plain and simple. The conditions are clean, but it’s like ironing a shirt with no shirt on the board.

There is a tiny glimpse of something on Thursday the 30th morning. We get a glassy surface with a 1.3ft swell, but the period is a pathetic 3 seconds and the energy is just 5. It’s a lake, mate. You’d be better off practicing pop-ups in the driveway.

We then hit a real dead zone from the 1st of August right through to the 6th. Thursday the 3rd of August afternoon does show a bump—3ft from the southeast with a 7-second period and moderate wave energy of 126—but the wind is cross-onshore and choppy, and the rating is still poor. It’s not a surfable option, it’s just a messy, blown-out knee-high wave. The rest of that period is filled with onshore winds, flat seas, or ridiculously small junk.

There is no standout session. The best on offer is maybe the Thursday afternoon on the 3rd, but even that is a “don’t bother” message. The swell direction of SE is not what Oceanic Pier really wants (it prefers NE), so the quality is poor. For a consistent, fairly exposed spot like this, a blank run of this length is unusual but not unheard of when the weather patterns lock in. If you are desperate, maybe have a look for a clean, westerly wind window on the 29th, but with zero swell, you’re just looking at a flat, pretty ocean. The setup here is more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer when the wind picks up.

Hang in there, the forecasts can change.

Read more