Royal Palms State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a long, honest look at what’s coming our way for the next 16 days. To be straightforward, this is a pretty flat and frustrating outlook overall. The swell is small, the winds are often messy, and there aren’t any real fire days on the horizon. We’re looking at a long stretch of small, weak waves and onshore chop more often than not.

We start off on Wednesday, September 2nd, with a tiny pulse. Royal Palms State Beach is the only game in town. Wednesday morning is about the best we get all week, with a tiny 1ft SW groundswell and glassy conditions. The water temp is about average for this time of year. The combined energy is weak (190), so you’ll be floating around waiting for a knee-high lump. The wave period is a very long 16 seconds, which for a beach-reef-point setup like this can mean the swell is quite directional and won't dump all its energy at once. Still, that glassy wind is a rare treat. Get on it early, because the afternoon gets ruined by a 25 km/h cross-onshore wind that will make a mess.

The rest of the week and into the weekend is grim. Thursday and Friday see tiny swell (1ft to 3ft) with light cross-onshore winds and choppy conditions. The combined energy creeps up to moderate (around 300-450) but the quality is poor. Saturday morning sees a brief window of offshore wind with that same small 3ft SW swell, but the conditions are unknown, so it's a gamble.

The first real standout, and the only true highlight, comes on Sunday afternoon, September 6th. We get a 4ft S swell with a nice 14-second period, and the wind turns offshore from the NNE at 5 km/h. That’s clean. The combined energy jumps to a moderate 615. This is the best wave window in the entire forecast. It’s not huge, but it will have some push and be clean. This is your session.

Monday, September 7th, the swell builds to 5ft with that S direction and a 14-second period, pushing the combined energy into strong territory (956). But the wind is variable and questionable. If you are an expert and can read a tricky wind, there might be a rogue peak, but for most of us, it’s going to be a tough one to figure out.

From there, it’s a long, slow fade. From Tuesday, September 8th, all the way through to Thursday, September 17th, the swell drops back to the 1ft to 3ft range. The wind relentlessly blows cross-onshore or onshore from the west or southwest, keeping the surf choppy and disappointing. The combined energy falls off a cliff, dipping below 100 at times (weak). The last day on the 17th has a 23-second period, which is incredibly long, but the height is only 1ft, so it will be a glassy lake out there more than anything. The water remains around average for the season.

Honestly, for the 16-day window, the only window worth paddling out for is that Sunday afternoon, September 6th. Everything else is a battle with small, weak waves and bad wind. It looks pretty bleak overall; this is one of those quiet spells where you either get your fix on that one clean day or wait for the next swell to fill in.

Rusty.

Read more