Royal Palms State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, it’s Rusty here. Let’s break it down.

First off, I gotta lay it down straight – this ain’t a good run for any surfer. Royal Palms State Beach is a reef and point setup, sheltered from the main swell direction, and it’s inconsistent. The water temp is 74°, which is a massive 8° warmer than normal for this time of year – that’s very unusual, like a warm bath out there.

We start on Friday, August 28th. It’s a washout. Tiny 2 ft swell on a 17-second period (that’s a really long groundswell but for this spot it doesn’t help), coming from the SSW. The wind is light cross-onshore, so the surf is poor. The combined energy is moderate at 271, but it just doesn’t turn into anything ridable here. The afternoon gets worse – choppy with 1 ft and a 19-second period.

Saturday, August 29th morning has a little bump to 3 ft from the SSW, period 17 seconds, and the wind goes offshore for a minute. The energy jumps up to 511 (strong). But the files call it “marginal” – questionable tide conditions and the spot just isn’t handling it. It stays poor through the afternoon with a 12 mph cross-onshore ripping things apart.

The whole first week is more of the same. Sunday the 30th, Monday the 31st, all the way through to Thursday, September 3rd – we’re looking at swell between 1 ft and 3 ft, mostly cross-onshore winds, and the wave comment never gets better than “poor surf conditions” or “marginal.” There’s a long gap of about four days with nothing recommendable.

Friday, September 4th shows a bit more energy (424) with 2 ft from the SSW, period 17 seconds, and the wind is actually cross-shore, not onshore. The files still only call it “marginal.” It’s the closest thing to a pick, but let’s not kid ourselves – it’s not a standout.

Saturday the 5th through Monday the 7th are poor again, except on Monday afternoon, September 7th, we finally get a clean window. Wind goes offshore from the NE at 6 mph, waves are 2 ft from the SSW, 14-second period. The comment finally says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” That’s our best bet, but it’s still small and not worth a special trip.

After that, from Tuesday, September 8th onward, the swell drops back to 1 ft to 3 ft, all cross-onshore again, with the energy sinking to between 155 and 389. Nothing in the second week stands out – it’s a long, flat run.

The bottom line: Royal Palms is inconsistent at the best of times, and this 16-day stretch has almost no real surf. A few marginal moments on August 29th and September 4th and 7th are your only hope, and even then, the conditions aren’t good. I’d say don’t bother paddling out – wait for a change in the forecast, because it tends not to stay this poor for long.

Rusty.

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