Surf Forecasts:
Pelican Watch surf forecast from 15 Sep 2026:
- Best quality surf: Sunday 20 Sep, 5AM (local time) - 1.5ft (0.4m), 10s period, SE swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 16 Sep, 5PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 7s period, E swell with 107 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Sunday 20 Sep, 5AM (local time) - 1.5ft (0.4m), 10s period with SE 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 Sunday (Sep 20) at 5AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.4m and 10s period with a secondary swell of 0.2m and 11s. Another secondary swell of 0.7m and 5s is also forecast. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Pelican Watch in the next 16 days are 1.0m 7s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Sep 16) at 5PM. Winds are predicted to be onshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.4m 3s period and expected on Friday (Sep 18) at 5PM.
| Wave Type | Time (EDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 5AM (Sun 20th Sep) | 1.5ft (0.4m) 10s |
| Best Surf | 5AM (Sun 20th Sep) | 1.5ft (0.4m) 10s |
| Most Powerful | 5PM (Wed 16th Sep) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 7s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Pelican Watch over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it for the Pelican Watch stretch. I’m looking at a pretty drawn-out, quiet start. The water’s sitting at 82°, which is pretty average for this time of year – nothing unusual there.
We’ve got a long, slow run ahead. From now right through the rest of this week, it’s flat and messy. Don’t bother paddling out. We’re looking at a gap of over a week before we see anything worthwhile. The swell energy is weak for days, barely cracking 100 (103) on Tuesday afternoon the 15th, but the wind is onshore from the east at 15 mph, and the period is a short 5 seconds – just wind slop. Through Wednesday and Thursday, the wind stays cross-onshore, keeping things choppy.
There’s a glimmer on Sunday, September 20th. We get a little window early in the morning with glassy conditions and a small 3 ft swell from the east (86 energy). The wind is a light SSE at 3 mph, dead glass. It’s small, but it’s clean. That’s about the best you’ll get until the end of the month. The next morning (Monday 21st) also has some small clean waves from the south-west wind, but it’s tiny.
After that, it’s back to poor conditions until we hit Thursday, September 24th. The swell starts to pick up, with 4 ft to 4 ft from the ESE, and wave energy climbing over 150 (158). But the wind is onshore or cross-onshore at 9 mph, so expect some chop.
The real stand-out, the only one that gets me talking, is on Saturday, September 26th. By the afternoon, we have the best combination on offer. The swell bumps up to 5 ft from the east with a 9-second period, and the combined energy jumps to a strong 597. More importantly, we get a clean cross-offshore wind from the southwest at 9 mph. That is going to set up some clean, head-high runners at the point. This is the pick of the whole forecast, no contest. It’s not huge, but the conditions will make it fun.
The week after that is blown out again with northerlies, so that Saturday the 26th is the day to circle. It’s a long way out, so call it a promising call, but the signals are good.
Rusty
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Warm (max 26°C on Tue afternoon, min 23°C on Thu morning). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryModerate rain (total 10mm), heaviest on Mon morning. Warm (max 28°C on Fri afternoon, min 25°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light. | |||||||||||||||||||
Tue 15 | Wednesday 16 | Thursday 17 | Friday 18 | Saturday 19 | Sunday 20 | Monday 21 | ||||||||||||||
PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 5 | ENE 5 | E 6 | E 7 | E 6 | ENE 7 | E 6 | ESE 6 | ESE 6 | ESE 6 | E 7 | E 7 | SE 9 | E 5 | E 7 | E 8 | E 8 | SE 9 | SE 8 | E 8 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 99 | 72 | 52 | 107 | 60 | 49 | 36 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 62 | 57 | 40 | 27 | 25 | 21 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | on | cross-on | cross-on | on | on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | off | cross-on | cross-on | glassy | glassy | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross |
High Tide | 11:27PM1.20m | 11:59AM1.50m | 00:12AM1.10m | 12:50PM1.43m | 1:03AM1.03m | 1:48PM1.37m | 2:03AM0.99m | 2:51PM1.35m | 3:09AM0.99m | 3:54PM1.36m | 4:11AM1.04m | 4:48PM1.40m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 5:30PM0.22m | 5:16AM0.20m | 6:21PM0.30m | 5:59AM0.26m | 7:18PM0.37m | 6:49AM0.32m | 8:21PM0.42m | 7:48AM0.35m | 9:26PM0.43m | 8:54AM0.35m | 10:24PM0.40m | 9:57AM0.32m | 11:11PM0.35m | |||||||
 |  | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | |  |  | | | |
 | — | — | 6:54 | — | — | 6:54 | — | — | 6:56 | — | — | 6:56 | — | — | 6:56 | — | — | 6:58 | — | — |
 | 7:17 | — | — | 7:16 | — | — | 7:15 | — | — | 7:14 | — | — | 7:13 | — | — | 7:10 | — | — | 7:09 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 8 | 3 | — |
Temp °C | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 27 |
Feels °C | 23 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 26 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 31 | 30 | 30 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 15 | E 14 | ESE 8 | SE 14 | E 6 | E 6 | E 6 | ESE 6 | ESE 6 | ESE 6 | E 7 | E 7 | SE 9 | SE 9 | E 7 | E 8 | E 8 | E 7 | E 7 | E 8 |
| kJ | 4 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 60 | 47 | 36 | 20 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 62 | 57 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 21 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | SE 14 | — | SE 14 | SE 13 | SE 13 | SE 13 | ESE 12 | ESE 12 | SE 5 | ESE 9 | ESE 12 | ESE 11 | SE 10 | SE 9 | SE 9 | SE 9 | SE 8 | SE 8 |
| kJ | — | — | 7 | — | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 24 | 31 | 27 | 27 | 25 | 17 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | E 10 | SE 9 | SE 9 | SE 9 | ESE 8 | S 3 | SE 5 | — | — | — | — | — | E 11 | E 9 | E 8 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 12 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 5 | ENE 5 | E 6 | E 7 | — | ENE 7 | — | — | — | SSW 3 | WSW 3 | — | E 3 | E 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 99 | 72 | 52 | 107 | — | 49 | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | — | 5 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 2540 | 30 | 110 | 1230 | 23 | 23 | 956 | 278 | 253 | 816 | 243 | 966 | 837 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 609 | 294 |
Best forecast wave conditions in North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | ||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
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.
Nearest