Pelican Watch Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s in store for Pelican Watch over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you: this stretch is a tough one. For the first several days, through the end of August and into the start of September, there’s just nothing doing. We’re talking tiny, weak swell – mostly around 1ft to 2ft from the ESE – and the wind is mostly cross-onshore or just messy. The wave energy is almost non-existent, barely registering. It’s a real flat spell, and you’d be better off cleaning the wax off your board than paddling out. There’s a stretch of about four or five days there where you can write off any real surf.

Now, things start to perk up a little as we head into Wednesday, September 2nd. The morning shows a bump in energy – combined energy hits 151 – with a 3ft SE swell, period around 10 seconds, and clean conditions thanks to a light cross-offshore breeze from the SSW. That’s surfable, but it’s still pretty ordinary. The afternoon gets windier, and it drops off again. Thursday and Friday are much the same: small, clean but weak. You’ll get a wave, but you’ll be fighting for it.

The weekend and following week don’t bring much joy either. There’s a brief mention of offshore wind on the morning of Sunday, September 6th, but the swell is a messy 2ft from the SSW with a period of just 5 seconds – that’s windswell, not groundswell. Not worth the effort.

The real standout, if you can call it that, comes on Thursday, September 10th. The afternoon session shows a jump to 6ft from the SSW, with the combined energy hitting 329 – that’s a solid pulse of power. The period is still short at 7 seconds, so it’s a bit lumpy and raw. The wind is cross-offshore from the SW, so it’ll be clean. This one is for the crew that doesn’t mind a bit of punch and can handle a bigger, less organised wave. For beginners, that 6ft is too much; this is expert territory. And we’re talking more than a week out, so keep an eye on it – it’s promising, but not set in stone.

After that, it fades again into the second week. Friday the 11th has a brief glimmer of gentle offshore wind on the afternoon with a 2ft S swell, but the energy is low. The rest of the outlook is flat and forgettable, with weak, short-period waves and cross-shore breezes.

If you’re a kiter, the windier days with that bigger, choppier swell on September 10th might look more interesting than for us paddlers. For the rest of us, this is a lean period. Pelican Watch is a beginner-friendly, fairly consistent spot, but it’s not showing much love here. The water temperature is about average for the time of year, so no surprises there. Keep your eyes on that Thursday the 10th afternoon window – that’s the only real ticket in the next 16 days.

Rusty.

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