Rockpiles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright crew, Rusty here again, but in feet this time.

Looking at Rockpiles for the next couple of weeks, and I’ll be straight with you – it’s not looking pretty. There’s a rough start and a long, flat feeling through the whole run.

First up, the water temp is 79°F, just a hair above normal for this time of year, nothing to worry about.

Okay, from Thursday July 2nd through Saturday July 4th, there’s some small waves but the reports are all "marginal" or "poor". The wind is a fresh cross-off from the ENE at 18 to 22 mph, which isn't what we want. The swell is small, from the ENE, with a short period of 8 seconds – that’s just messy windswell. The combined energy is moderate (517-865), but conditions are junk. Honestly, this stretch might be better for kiteboarding than paddling out.

Then there’s the one real tease. On Saturday July 4th and into Sunday July 5th, a long-period groundswell from the S/SSW sneaks in with periods of 18 to 21 seconds. The height is tiny – only 2ft to 3ft – but the combined energy is huge for that size (781-946). That’s a proper slug of juice. Now, Rockpiles is a reef, and reefs love long-period groundswells, so the wave shape could be fun. The catch? Wind is still fresh from the ENE at 18 to 25 mph. It’s cross-off, not properly offshore. So you’ve got a powerful little pulse, but the surface is going to be chopped. If you can get out on the Saturday morning or Sunday morning of July 4th/5th, that’s your window. Crowds are “sometimes” a factor here, so you might have a few mates.

After that, from Monday July 6th onward, it’s a long, bleak stretch. We get back to ENE windswell with short periods of 7 seconds, fresh cross-off wind, and poor to marginal conditions. The surf is 5ft to 7ft from the ENE, but it’s just fat, weak, and blown out. There’s a whole week of this slop, right through to Friday July 17th, when the energy finally drops off. Nothing in the second week looks worth paddling out for.

Alright, so the call is simple. The only flicker of life is that S/SSW groundswell on the 4th and 5th of July, but even that gets messed up by the wind. Everything else is just short period junk in a fresh breeze. If you’re a glass-half-full surfer, take a look at that Saturday morning reef session, but don’t expect perfection. For the rest of the 16 days… it’s a write-off. A lot of the second week is pure poor conditions.

Rusty.

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