Publics Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty checkin' in from the Publics break. Let's get straight into it.

Well, I gotta be honest with you, the next week and a half looks pretty average for a solid paddle session. The first few days are gonna be a grind, with small, weak swell and a persistent cross-off wind that just won't let up. We're lookin' at a real dry spell until around the 20th of August. There's a bit of a wait, but hang in there.

Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th are a write-off. Tiny waves, that 2.6 ft to 4.3 ft range, but that ENE wind is just messin' it all up, plus Tuesday's swell is a short-period windswell that'll be all chop. It's a struggle just to get a ride.

Wednesday the 19th is even smaller, with 1.3 ft to 1.6 ft. There's a nice long 16-second period from the SSW, but it's just not got the height. You'd be bobbin' around.

Now, Thursday the 20th of August is the first real glimmer of hope. We finally get a light breeze, and on Thursday afternoon we even snag an offshore wind from the NE. The swell is still tiny at 2 ft, but it's a clean 17 to 18-second groundswell from the SSW. The wave energy is still low (279) but it's clean and glassy, perfect for a longboard. The crowds here are always an issue, so you'll be sharing it, but it's the best lookin' couple of days in the first week. Friday the 21st and Saturday morning the 22nd hold similar conditions with clean 2.3 ft surf, so snag a window then. Saturday afternoon the wind kicks back up hard to 22 mph and ruins it.

Then we hit Sunday the 23rd and into the next week, and the size jumps up, but so does the wind. From the 23rd to the 27th of August, we get a solid ENE windswell, but it's comin' in with a short period (7 to 9 seconds) and a nasty cross-off breeze that's gonna tear the faces off. The swell hits 11.5 ft on Wednesday the 26th and Thursday the 27th, but with that wind, it's gonna be a choppy, blown-out mess. The combined energy gets into the thousands (1836 to 2730), but the quality is poor. For you beginners, anything over 5 ft is too much, and this is in the expert-only zone, but the conditions are so bad it's hardly worth the paddle. It's more of a kite-surfing scene than a paddle-surfing one.

The water temp is sittin' around 80.8°F, which is normal for this time of year.

The real standout, the one that might be worth a special trip, is lookin' like the end of the month, around Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th of August. The swell jumps up to 6.9 ft to 8.2 ft, but crucially, the period stretches out to 12 seconds and the direction swings to the SSW. With a 12-second period and a direction from the SW, that's real groundswell energy, and at over 8 ft, it's strictly for the experienced crew. The combined energy is massive (2390 to 2596), but the wind is still a problem, blowin' a fresh 22 to 25 mph cross-off from the ENE. It's a powerful, thumping swell but likely unruly. If you're a charger, keep an eye on it, but the wind needs to cooperate.

After that, the 30th and 31st of August and into September, the size drops back and the wind gets even stronger, 28 mph, so we're back to a poor outlook. A blank run is never guaranteed, but right now, this area has a long stretch of wind that just won't quit.

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