Port Orford Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here with a look at what’s on offer for Port Orford over the next couple of weeks. Honestly, it’s a tough run to call. The real story is the water – that’s sitting at a chilly 51°F and the anomaly of 6°F below normal tells you it’s way colder than usual for the time of year, so you’ll want a good thick hood.

Right now and through the weekend, there’s a little bit of life but it’s far from epic. We’ve got a long-period groundswell from the SW rolling in – about 4ft with a 19-second period and combined wave energy of 1266 (that’s strong). Problem is, Port Orford is sheltered to the SW, and the wind’s cross or cross-off. The morning of the 26th sees light cross-shore breeze, but the call is marginal surf at best. Through to Monday the 27th the swell drops a touch to around 4-4ft but still from the SW; the wind shifts to a light cross-off from the NW, cleaning things up a bit. The afternoon of the 27th actually nudges up to “very good” conditions on paper, but the swell direction just isn’t right for this spot, so you’re looking at small, clean but weak surf.

From Tuesday the 28th right through to the 1st of August, the swell goes tiny and short-period (8-9 seconds). It shifts to the WNW with a solid offshore breeze – N to NNW winds blowing 9-19 mph – so it’ll be clean and glassy-looking, but there’s next to no energy. The combined energy drops into the double digits and low triple digits (94 to 129). This is barely worth paddling out for – ordinary conditions all the way. There’s a gap here of a few days with nothing to get excited about.

Then we hit a real change. From Sunday the 2nd of August onward, the swell jacks up. It swings around to the N and NNW, and the size jumps to around 6ft on the Sunday morning, hitting 8ft by the afternoon. Periods are short though – just 6 to 8 seconds – and the combined energy is strong (441 to over 900). The wind stays fresh offshore from the N at 19-22 mph, so it’ll be clean with good shape, but this is big, short-period, wind-driven stuff. Over 8ft on a beach setup means this is expert territory only. The quality notes keep saying marginal or poor – it’s lumpy, raw, and the period is too short for proper lines. This setup actually looks more interesting for kite surfing than standard paddle surfing.

As we push into the second week, the pattern holds. Through to the 10th of August, we’re seeing consistent 7ft to 8ft N/NNW swells with persistent offshore winds. But these swells are short-period (6-8 seconds) and the notes still flag marginal conditions. Saturday the 8th morning has a glimpse of “good surf conditions” with combined energy at 458 and moderate offshore breeze, but it’s still big and raw. Don’t get your hopes up – this looks like a long stretch of challenging, expert-only surf with a kite-friendly feel to it.

Bottom line: if you’re looking for proper clean, workable waves, you’ll have to wait and see if the long-range stuff settles down. Right now, the pick of a thin bunch might be the afternoon of Monday the 27th – small, clean SW swell with light cross-off wind – but don’t expect much. Everything else is either too small or too wild.

Rusty.

Read more