Royal Palms State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let me tell you what’s shaking for the next couple weeks. Honestly, it's a bit of a slow one. We’ve got a long patch of small, messy surf to get through before anything starts to perk up. The water is running much warmer than normal for this time of year, so you can leave the thick wetsuit at home for now if you brave the flat spells.

The break we’re looking at is Royal Palms State Beach, a sheltered reef and point that’s best on a southwest swell. To kick things off, the first week and a half is a real struggle. From Friday the 14th right through to Monday the 24th, it’s just poor surf conditions. The swell is tiny, mostly between 1 ft and 3 ft, and the winds are nearly always cross-onshore or onshore, churning it up. It’s a real bummer, because the energy is mostly weak, ranging from just 141 to 381 on the combined scale. You’d be fighting a losing battle out there.

The only tiny glimmer of hope in that first stretch is Monday morning, August 17th. The wind goes completely glassy, and we get a little 2 ft swell at 14 seconds. The wave comment actually says "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions." It’s not going to set the world on fire, and the spot is usually inconsistent, but if you’re desperate for a paddle, that window right there is your only real shot. Expect small, clean lines.

After that, it’s back to the doldrums until we finally see a pulse of more energy around the 25th. The wave energy jumps into the strong category, hitting 691. The swell bumps up to 3 ft from the SSE and S directions, with periods around 14-16 seconds. That’s a proper groundswell, which suits a point setup like Royal Palms. The problem is the wind still isn't playing the game. It’s cross-on or onshore, keeping the surf messy and earning a "poor surf conditions" or "marginal" tick. The Wednesday morning session on the 27th shows some potential with light onshore winds and a 3 ft swell from the SSW, but realistically, we’re waiting for the very end of the run.

The real standout, if you can wait, is Saturday the 29th. This is the one to circle. We’ve got a 3 ft swell from the SSW with a very long period of 18 seconds. That groundswell will wrap nicely into that sheltered corner. The energy is strong at 638. More importantly, the wind is a light cross-shore from the SSE. Conditions will be far cleaner than anything we’ve seen, giving you proper, lined-up waves. It’s a beginner-friendly spot, but with that period, look for the waves to peel better on the point than the beach. That’s your best bet in the whole 16-day window.

Signing off, Rusty.

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