Rehoboth Main Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let's have a long, hard look at our surf outlook.

Right off the bat, I gotta be honest with ya – the next week and a half is a tough stretch. We're looking at a lean period, especially from now through to early September. The waves are small, the energy is weak, and most of the time we're dealing with onshore or cross-shore breezes that mess things up. The water temp is hovering around what we'd expect for this time of year, nothing wild.

On Tuesday the 25th, we've got tiny little 1 ft waves at Rehoboth Main, coming from the southeast. It's clean in the morning with a light cross-offshore breeze, but the swell energy is only 21, which tells you all you need to know – it's basically flat. The rest of that week and into the weekend is much the same story: ankle-biters, mostly choppy or cross-onshore, with wind speeds picking up into the 12-13 mph range. There's a little spike on the afternoon of Friday the 28th where the swell bumps up to 2 ft and the wind goes cross-offshore, but even then the energy is weak at 75 and the period is a short 6 seconds. It's surfable, but you'd be scraping for scraps.

We then hit a real dry spell. From Saturday the 29th right through to Tuesday the 3rd of September, it's mostly poor surf conditions. The swell stays below 2 ft, and the wind is either onshore or cross-onshore. There's a glimmer on Monday the 31st with some offshore wind at 12 mph, but the swell is still tiny and the energy is just 14. It's not happening.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. We're looking at Thursday the 5th and Friday the 6th of September as the real standouts in this whole window. The swell finally shows up. On Thursday morning the 5th, we get a 5 ft swell from the northeast with a period of 6 seconds. The energy jumps to 211 – that's a real step up in power. Wind is a light cross-on, so there's a bit of texture, but it's workable. That afternoon, it builds to 6 ft from the east-northeast, with an energy rating of 352. That's some solid, punchy wave energy for Rehoboth Main. This is for the more experienced crew though – 6 ft with that much push can be a handful for beginners. On Friday morning the 6th, we’ve got a 4 ft swell from the east-northeast, but the wind swings around to the south at 12 mph, blowing cross-offshore. That’ll clean it up nicely. The energy is still high at 333. That Friday morning session is your best bet for a decent, workable wave with clean faces. Saturday the 7th looks like it starts to fade and get messy with stronger onshore wind.

So, to boil it all down: don't bother with a board for the first week or so. Wait for that pulse around Thursday the 5th and Friday the 6th. The Thursday afternoon might have a bit more size, but the Friday morning with the cross-offshore wind looks cleaner. It's a long way out, so don't lock it in, but it's the first real sign of life we've seen. If that swell doesn't pan out, we're looking at a blank run right up until the 8th or 9th of September, which is pretty normal for this area when it goes quiet.

Stay tuned, and I'll see you in the water when it turns on.

Rusty.

Read more