Rockpiles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the next couple of weeks for Rockpiles. There’s a bit of a rough patch to get through, but there’s a couple of days that look like they’ll be worth the wait.

Right off the bat, we’ve got a real standout on Wednesday afternoon, July 29th. The wind is glassy, coming from the east at just 3 mph, and that’s going to leave the surface looking like a mirror. The swell is a solid 5 ft out of the ENE, with a moderate energy level (645) and a period of 9 seconds that should give you some decent shape. The water temp is sitting right around 80°, which is pretty much what you’d expect for this time of year. This is for the advanced crew only, as it’s a reef setup, and it can get a bit crowded here sometimes. This is the best session on offer.

Then things get messy. From Thursday morning, July 30th, through to the end of the first week of August, the wind really cranks up out of the east-northeast, hitting 22 to 28 mph. We’ll see the swell size jump from 5 ft up to 8 ft, but the period drops to a short 8 seconds, and the wind just isn’t your friend. The energy gets high, hitting 1379 (strong) on Saturday morning, August 1st, but with that onshore/cross-off wind and short period, it’s going to be a messy, blown-out affair. Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. There’s a long gap here with no good recommendations.

We start to see a change around Tuesday, August 4th. The wind finally backs off to 9 mph, and the swell period stretches out to 11 seconds. The afternoon session on the 4th is the next real highlight. The swell is a clean 5 ft out of the ENE, with a nice long period, and the energy is still moderate (554). The wind is a gentle cross-off breeze, and the report says “expect very good surf conditions.” This is a solid option for a more experienced surfer.

The outlook gets a bit more interesting into the second week. On Monday morning, August 10th, we see a groundswell from the SSW pushing in at 3 ft with a very long period of 16 seconds. The combined energy is moderate (580), and the wind is a gentle cross-off from the east-northeast. The report signals “expect very good surf conditions.” However, a long-period swell like this can break a bit straight at a beach break, but Rockpiles is a reef, which should handle it well. Keep in mind this is a week and a half away, so it’s promising but less certain.

The final small window looks to be Wednesday afternoon, August 12th. The wind goes light and cross-off from the northeast at 6 mph, and the swell is a baby 2 ft from the SSW with a 13-second period. The energy is low (235), but the report says “expect good surf conditions.” It’s a small day, but it’ll be clean.

So, to wrap it up: the standout is Wednesday afternoon, July 29th, for the glassy conditions and solid swell. The backup is Tuesday afternoon, August 4th, for the cleaner, longer-period swell. The last two weeks of the forecast are a waiting game, with a couple of promising but less certain groundswell windows.

Rusty.

Read more