Pelican Watch Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming our way for the next couple of weeks. I’m going to be straight with you – this is a lean spell. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak surf and tricky winds to get through before anything with a bit of punch shows up.

The whole outlook is focused on one spot: Pelican Watch. The water temp here is sitting at 82°, which is pretty much spot on for this time of year, nothing unusual there.

For the first week and a half, from Monday the 17th of August right through to about Saturday the 29th of August, it’s a real struggle. Most days are serving up tiny 0.7 ft to 2 ft swells with weak energy (values mostly between 18 and 92). The winds are mostly cross-off or cross, which keeps the surface clean, but there’s just no power. Even the odd 3 ft bump on Sunday the 23rd is a short-period windswell (6 seconds) that won’t offer any real shape. Honestly, this stretch is more about a paddle and a tan than a proper surf.

Things start to change around the tail end of the month. Thursday the 27th of August morning sees the swell finally push up to 3 ft from the SE, with a period of 12 seconds. The combined energy jumps to a moderate 264 – finally some proper juice. Winds are clean, cross-off from the SW at 15 mph. It’s still a bit raw, and the guidance flags it as marginal, but it’s the first real sign of life. The afternoon holds similar energy (202), with the swell easing slightly to 3 ft.

Now, if you’re an experienced surfer, the standout window here is Monday the 31st of August and Tuesday the 1st of September. The swell size kicks up to 5 ft from the E/ENE, with moderate wave energy in the 127-167 range. However, this is where I have to wave a red flag. That 5 ft is pushing the limit for beginners, and the period is a short, choppy 6 seconds. On top of that, the wind is a messy cross-onshore flow from the NNE and NE at 12-15 mph, creating lumpy, choppy conditions. For a beach setup like Pelican Watch, this is looking more like a kite-surfing session than a clean paddle-surfing one. The crowds are likely to be there, but the quality is a real question mark.

So, to sum it up: there’s nothing worth paddling out for until the last few days of the month. Thursday the 27th offers the cleanest, most promising swell of the lot for a proper surf. The bigger, messier stuff at the very end is one for the experts or the kite crew only.

Stay patient, keep an eye on the horizon.
Rusty.

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