Royal Palms State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, gettin’ straight into the local outlook, and I’ve gotta level with ya – it’s a pretty flat and frustrating stretch ahead if you're looking for anything decent.

We’ve got a long, dry run of poor surf conditions through most of the next two weeks, so strap in and lower your expectations. The only faint whisper of something a bit more interesting is way off in the distance.

The whole 16-day window is covered by the one spot here, Royal Palms State Beach – a reef and point break that’s sheltered and known for bein’ inconsistent, so this blank run ain't too out of the ordinary for the area. Water temp is about average for the time of year, so nothin’ to get excited about there.

From now right through the first week of September, it’s just small, weak, and messy. We’re talkin’ swell heights between 1ft and 3ft, almost always from the SSW, with periods mostly in the 13 to 15-second range. That long-period groundswell would be decent if it had any size, but the energy is low – the combined swell energy is only in the 127 to 563 range, so barely any power behind it. The wind is consistently cross-onshore, light to moderate, keepin’ the surface choppy and blown out. The best you’ll get is a couple of mornings early on the 1st and 3rd of September with just a slight onshore breeze, but the swell is tiny (1ft to 2ft), so it’s still a no-go. A couple of mornings on the 4th and 5th of September show marginal surf with questionable tide conditions and a bit more energy (563 and 476), but it’s still just knee-high and messy on the cross-shore wind – not worth paddlin’ for.

The second week doesn’t improve much. Swell stays small, with one morning on the 8th of September showin’ a slightly bigger 4ft from the SSW, but it’s short-period (13s) and hammered by cross-onshore winds – that’s pure chop. A small window on Sunday the 6th of September afternoon offers a bit of hope: a 2ft SSW swell, period of 15s, and for a change, the wind goes cross-offshore and the phrase reads "clean." Still, the combined energy is just 400, and it’s a tiny swell. You might get a couple of fun, clean little waves if you’re on a longboard and the tide lines up, but it’s by no means a standout.

The only true standout, if you can call it that, is the full day on Thursday the 10th of September through to the end of the run. Nothin’ special pops. The 13th of September Sunday morning has a 2ft onshore breeze and long-period 19s groundswell from the SW, but it’s so small and weak (combined energy of 225), it’ll just be a clean, glassy dribble. The afternoon of the 13th also has a 19s period, but with a 1ft swell – tiny.

In short, it’s a tough outlook. The best recommendation is a quiet, clean Sunday the 6th of September afternoon for a longboard if you’re desperate, but don’t expect any barrels. This setup honestly looks way more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing – at least the wind’s blowin’!

Stay patient, check back, forecasts can change. Rusty out.

Read more