Riviera Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, surfers, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you. The next couple of weeks are looking pretty darn flat for the Riviera. We’re staring down a long stretch of small, weak surf that’s going to be frustrating if you’re chasing any real waves.

Looking at the whole 16-day picture, we’re mostly dealing with poor surf conditions. For the first week, the swell is tiny and wonky, and a lot of it is coming from a direction that just doesn’t line up right for Riviera. It’s the kind of surf you’d look at and decide to do something else instead.

We start off on Thursday, August 6th, there’s just no energy at all. It’s still flat on Friday, the 7th, even though we see a pulse of long-period swell, but it's not wrapping in properly. The combined energy is up around 470, but it's just not making any waves. The wind is light but onshore, so it’s not doing us any favors either.

We’re going to have to sit through a few days of this nothingness. The whole weekend and into early next week is a write-off. The swell height is stuck around 2ft to 3ft, with short, unimpressive periods. It’s just a lot of water moving around without any real push. It’s not until the afternoon of Monday, August 10th, that things even get close to what I’d call surfable, but it's a one out of ten, a real marginal call. The period jumps up to 20 seconds, but the swell is only 2ft. That’s just not enough to do anything with.

The 14th of August, that Friday, sees the energy jump up into the 631 to 893 range, which is a decent sign. There's more juice in the water, but the swell height is still struggling to hit 3ft. The wind will be cross-onshore and a bit bumpy in the afternoon, so the surf is going to be messy.

The best of the window looks to be towards the end of the second week, around Saturday the 15th and into Sunday the 16th. We are seeing a slight bump in swell height to about 3ft to 4ft, with better energy. But don't get too excited. The Saturday afternoon gets chopped up by a moderate cross-onshore breeze from the WNW, making it a bit of a mess. The Sunday morning of the 16th, with lighter winds and clean conditions, is probably the most promising call, but it's still only a marginal, 1 out of 10 situation. For a beginner, there might be a few soft ones to push around on, but for anyone with a bit of experience, it’s going to be a frustrating paddle for not much reward. And remember, this is a week and a half away, so take it with a pinch of salt.

Beyond that, the swell tries to fill in a bit on August 21st, but it's coming from the west with a short, 8-second period, which is just chopped-up windswell. Not what we want.

Honestly, the Riviera is a very consistent spot, but this forecast has it looking pretty poor. If you're set on getting wet, keep an eye on the morning of the 16th of August. That's your best shot. Otherwise, it might be a good time to get the gear fixed or take up something else for a week or two.

Rusty out.

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