Ranches Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let me tell you what’s cooking.

Honestly, the next couple of weeks aren’t looking like a surfing bonanza for us. There’s a big blank patch starting now, and we’re not getting anything worth paddling out for until Wednesday morning, August 19th. From then on, it’s mostly a run of very ordinary, small stuff. There’s no real standout, high-quality swell heading our way, so you gotta keep your expectations low.

August 19th (Wednesday) – This is the most interesting session in the whole outlook, but it’s still a strange one. Ranches is a reef setup that’s exposed to the NW, and we get a tiny 2 ft swell coming from the SW, which is the complete opposite of the optimum direction. The real story here is the period: a massive 16 seconds, making it a very long period groundswell. This kind of energy is weird for a beach, but on a reef, it could wrap in and produce some clean, lined-up waves. The combined energy is moderate (157). The wind is dead calm, glassy as a lake in the morning, and that will make for a slick, clean surface. The wave is tiny, though, so it’s really only for a longboard and someone who knows the reef. A crowd could show up since it’s sometimes busy here, but on waves this small, it’s unlikely.

August 20th (Thursday) – A bit of a letdown after the glassy morning. Thursday morning offers a 2 ft swell from the SW again, with a very long period of 18 seconds, giving us a decent 277 (moderate) energy. Problem is the wind is a cross-shore from the NNW at 6 mph, putting little ripples on the face. The morning is marginal. Thursday afternoon cleans up with light offshore wind from the east, but the swell drops to a 2 ft from the NNE and the period collapses to 7 seconds. It’s surfable but ordinary.

August 21st (Friday) through August 25th (Tuesday) – A long, flat spell of tiny surf and moderate to fresh offshore winds. We see consistent offshore breezes from the ENE and NE, but the swell hovers around 1 ft to 2 ft with periods mostly under 8 seconds. The energy is weak, scraping the bottom of the scale (between 35 and 175). This is the definition of “surfable but very ordinary.” It would take a longboard or a foiler to have any fun. The water temperature feels about average for this time of year.

August 26th (Wednesday) and 27th (Thursday) – Still small. Slight bump where the swell climbs to 4 ft – 4 ft from the NE, but the period is still short at 6-7 seconds. Combined energy stays moderate (95–149). Offshore winds keep it clean, but without any power or push, it’s just lumpy, weak waves. Another stretch of “meh.”

August 28th (Friday) – A total flat day. Zero energy. No swell at all. Don’t bother heading down.

August 29th (Saturday) to September 2nd (Wednesday) – We limp to the end with tiny, weak swell from the NE. 1 ft to 3 ft, period never over 7 seconds. Combined energy is very weak (14–58). Offshore winds are a constant feature, keeping the surface clean, but there’s just no wave face to ride. For the last few days there’s no swell recorded at all.

Bottom line: The 19th is the only real point of interest, and that’s because the long period and glassy conditions could make it a weird, fun novelty wave on the reef. For everyone else, it’s a longboard-only, very ordinary window. This area tends to have quiet runs like this, but it won’t stay this way forever.

Rusty.

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