Surf Forecasts:
Pelican Watch surf forecast from 5 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Thursday 9 Jul, 8AM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.3m), 6s period, SSW swell with offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Friday 10 Jul, 11PM (local time) - 5.5ft (1.7m), 7s period, SSW swell with 249 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Wednesday 8 Jul, 8AM (local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 6s period with SSW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Pelican Watch this week:
The surf forecast for Pelican Watch over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Jul 08) at 8AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.9m and 6s period with a secondary swell of 0.5m and 9s. The wind is predicted to be offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Pelican Watch in the next 16 days are 1.7m 7s and forecast to arrive on Friday (Jul 10) at 11PM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.5m 6s period and expected on Friday (Jul 10) at 5PM.
| Wave Type | Time (EDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 8AM (Wed 8th Jul) | 3ft (0.9m) 6s |
| Best Surf | 8AM (Thu 9th Jul) | 4.5ft (1.3m) 6s |
| Most Powerful | 11PM (Fri 10th Jul) | 5.5ft (1.7m) 7s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Pelican Watch over the next 16 days.
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Ay, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – Pelican Watch ain’t seeing any decent surf in this whole 16-day stretch. The first record’s from Sunday July 5, and it’s all poor conditions right through to Monday July 20. Not a single standout session. Water’s sitting at 82°, which is bang on average for this time of year.
There are a few mornings where you might find surfable waves, but they’re tiny and ordinary – like Wednesday July 8 morning with 3.0ft from the south, short 6-second period, combined energy only 87 – weak. Winds are cross-offshore and clean, but the swell just isn’t there. Saturday July 11 morning offers 3.0ft again with a light offshore from the WNW, but still weak energy at 74. Monday July 13 morning has 2.0ft from the SE, 9-second period, energy 73 – again, small and clean but nothing to get excited about. Tuesday July 14 morning sees 1.6ft SE, 9s, energy 59 – tiny. Even when the swell bumps up to 3.9ft on Friday July 10 morning (energy 193, moderate), the period’s a weak 6 seconds and it’s still rated poor.
Otherwise it’s mostly cross-shore winds, onshore breezes, and tiny swell. A couple of afternoons get a bit more energy – like July 17 afternoon with 4.3ft from SSW, 6s, energy 131 (moderate) but it’s cross-shore with chop, so messy. That one’s borderline for beginners at over 4ft? Period’s short and wind’s not ideal.
Fact is, nothing here worth paddling out for. Pelican Watch can get crowded on good days, but these ain’t them. If you’re keen on kite surfing, some afternoons with stronger cross-off winds – like July 19 afternoon with 25 mph – might be more interesting, but for paddle surfing,
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 5mm), mostly falling on Sun night. Warm (max 33°C on Tue afternoon, min 27°C on Sun night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 3mm), mostly falling on Wed night. Warm (max 34°C on Wed afternoon, min 27°C on Wed night). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the SW on Thu afternoon, light winds from the WNW by Sat morning). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sun 5 | Monday 6 | Tuesday 7 | Wednesday 8 | Thursday 9 | Friday 10 | Saturday 11 | |||||||||||||||
PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 8 | SE 8 | SE 9 | SE 9 | SE 10 | S 6 | SE 9 | SE 9 | S 6 | SSW 6 | S 6 | S 6 | ESE 8 | SE 8 | SSW 6 | ESE 9 | SSW 7 | S 6 | S 6 | SE 9 | SE 9 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 17 | 17 | 23 | 20 | 23 | 42 | 22 | 21 | 65 | 80 | 47 | 47 | 28 | 18 | 107 | 9 | 168 | 63 | 26 | 30 | 40 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | off | cross | glassy | on |
High Tide | 00:11AM1.30m | 12:52PM1.21m | 00:57AM1.22m | 1:45PM1.30m | 1:49AM1.15m | 2:43PM1.41m | 2:48AM1.09m | 3:44PM1.51m | 3:50AM1.06m | 4:45PM1.62m | 4:55AM1.06m | 5:46PM1.73m | 5:58AM1.09m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 5:50PM0.16m | 6:28AM0.05m | 6:46PM0.18m | 7:09AM0.02m | 7:48PM0.19m | 7:56AM-0.00m | 8:56PM0.18m | 8:49AM-0.04m | 10:06PM0.14m | 9:46AM-0.08m | 11:12PM0.09m | 10:47AM-0.13m | 00:14AM0.02m | 11:48AM-0.18m | |||||||
 |  |  | |  | | |  | |  | | | | | | | | |  | | | |
 | — | — | 6:05 | — | — | 6:05 | — | — | 6:07 | — | — | 6:07 | — | — | 6:07 | — | — | 6:07 | — | — | 6:09 |
 | 8:25 | — | — | 8:25 | — | — | 8:25 | — | — | 8:24 | — | — | 8:24 | — | — | 8:24 | — | — | 8:24 | — | 8:23 |
mm | — | 2 | 1 | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 18 | — |
Temp °C | 30 | 28 | 31 | 31 | 29 | 32 | 33 | 29 | 33 | 34 | 30 | 33 | 34 | 28 | 32 | 32 | 29 | 33 | 34 | 26 | 28 |
Feels °C | 31 | 30 | 32 | 31 | 33 | 33 | 32 | 30 | 34 | 34 | 32 | 34 | 33 | 28 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 35 | 35 | 29 | 32 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 8 | SE 8 | ESE 8 | SE 9 | SE 10 | S 6 | SE 9 | SE 9 | S 6 | ESE 9 | S 6 | S 6 | ESE 8 | SE 8 | S 6 | ESE 9 | ESE 10 | S 6 | S 6 | SE 9 | SE 9 |
| kJ | 17 | 17 | 14 | 20 | 23 | 42 | 22 | 21 | 65 | 32 | 47 | 47 | 28 | 18 | 64 | 9 | 9 | 63 | 26 | 30 | 40 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | SE 6 | — | — | SE 10 | E 11 | E 10 | SE 9 | — | ESE 9 | ESE 9 | NE 6 | NE 6 | SE 9 | E 8 | E 9 | ESE 9 | SE 7 | SSW 6 | SSW 5 |
| kJ | — | — | 15 | — | — | 24 | 2 | 2 | 20 | — | 33 | 31 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 11 | 5 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | SE 9 | — | — | — | — | — | E 10 | — | ENE 4 | — | ENE 6 | E 8 | E 10 | — | — | E 9 | — | E 9 | E 9 |
| kJ | — | — | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | 1 | — | 4 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 2 | — | 2 | 2 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 3 | S 4 | S 5 | S 5 | SSW 5 | SW 6 | SSW 5 | SSW 6 | — | SSW 6 | SSW 6 | — | S 6 | SSW 6 | SSW 6 | SSW 6 | SSW 7 | — | — | E 4 | ENE 4 |
| kJ | 4 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 36 | 44 | 49 | 100 | — | 80 | 103 | — | 44 | 140 | 107 | 126 | 168 | — | — | 22 | 14 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 1002 | 454 | 281 | 642 | 282 | 288 | 818 | 278 | 0 | 956 | 99 | 22 | 1160 | 352 | 54 | 304 | 489 | 0 | 73 | 0 | 22 |
Best forecast wave conditions in North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Pelican Watch surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Pelican Watch Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Pelican Watch provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Pelican Watch can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Pelican Watch surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Pelican Watch) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Pelican Watch may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Pelican Watch is 26 km (16 miles) from the city of Wilmington. If you plan a vacation in North Carolina, look for hotels and other accommodation in Wilmington. Wilmington has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
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