Royal Palms State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a seat. It’s Rusty here, and I’ve been staring at the charts for our little corner of the coast, and I gotta tell you, it’s a tough stretch. We’re looking at a solid 16-day window, but honestly, the surf is mostly a flat, lumpy mess. There’s a real shortage of quality waves on offer, and we’re going to have to be patient.

The first couple of days are a washout. We’ve got minimal swell and a cross-onshore breeze that’s just chopping up the surface. The water is a toasty 70°, which is a fair bit warmer than usual for this time of year, so you won’t need a thick suit – that’s one small mercy. But the waves are tiny and the energy is weak, with the combined energy only hitting 226 [moderate] on Tuesday morning. There's no push, no shape, just not worth getting wet for.

The pattern doesn’t really change much through the rest of the month. We’re stuck with a mix of light cross-onshore winds and small, short-period southwest swell. The mornings are often glassier than the afternoons, which will bring in a sea breeze and chop things up again. The swell never really gets above 2ft, and the periods are all over the place. We do see the energy pick up a bit on the 29th and 30th, with combined energy reaching 337 [moderate] on the Saturday afternoon, but the wave quality is still listed as poor. It’s just messy, disorganized energy with no real push.

There is one thing that has my attention, though, and it’s a long way off, on the 1st of September. The morning shows a bump of 4ft on the face, but the period is a piddly 6 seconds. That’s pure wind swell – all chop and no power. The rest of that day falls away again. It’s a tease, not a treat.

For this whole period, the only named spot is Royal Palms State Beach. It’s a reef and point set-up, but it’s described as inconsistent and sheltered. The good news is it’s a beginner-friendly break and the optimum direction here is from the southwest, which is what we’re seeing most of the time. But the winds are almost always cross-onshore, which ruins the clean face. On the rare days we see an “on” shore wind, it’s too light to do much with the tiny swell we have. With the swell as small as it is and the conditions mixed, it’s not even worth the paddle unless you just want to bob around.

Honestly, the whole window is a blank run. There are no standout days on offer. It’s the kind of extended flat spell that this place can see. It isn’t going to last forever, and the charts can change, but for now, the wait continues. The only thing that looks halfway interesting is the short-period bump on the 1st, but even that is a stretch. With the onshore flow and poor quality, you’d get a better ride on a kiteboard than a surfboard at that point.

Keep the boards dusty, I’ll be checking the charts again. This is Rusty, signing off.

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