Viareggio - Royal Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are looking dead flat for the most part. We’ve got a long stretch of nothing happening at Viareggio – Royal, and that’s just how it is sometimes around here. The swell window is just not filling in. We do get a couple of brief pulses of energy, but they’re weak and messy, and honestly, there’s not a single day in this whole 16-day window that I’d call a proper surf. The first week is especially poor, and the second week offers even less hope. Keep the board in the car, but maybe don’t bother waxing it up.

Right now, starting Tuesday the 18th, we’ve got a tiny bit of life. Tuesday morning at Viareggio – Royal (Versilia) shows a small 3ft swell from the southwest with a period of 7 seconds. The combined energy is weak (67). The wind is offshore and light at 3 mph out of the ENE, which is clean, so you might get a few crumbly little rollers if you’re a beginner or on a longboard. But it’s pretty ordinary, to be honest. The water temp is about average for this time of year. Tuesday afternoon drops off to 2ft and it’s onshore, so that’s that.

Then we hit a real flat spell. From Wednesday the 19th right through to Friday the 21st, the swell is tiny – under 2ft – with short periods. There’s a little offshore wind and even some glassy conditions on Thursday morning, but the energy is just not there (17 at best). It’s not worth paddling out for this. The water temp is still running about average for the season.

The weekend doesn’t get any better. Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd are both poor, with small, weak swells and onshore or cross-onshore winds. Monday the 24th has a similar story – a bit of glass early, but the swell is nothing to get excited about. The first genuinely interesting pulse shows up on Tuesday the 25th, a week from now. We see a 4ft southwest swell with a period of 7 seconds, and the combined energy jumps to a moderate 131. But the wind is a cross-onshore 9 mph from the northwest, and it’s choppy – so while there’s more water moving, the surface is messy. It might be okay for a bigger board if you’re desperate, but it’s not the clean, glassy day we’re all chasing. This is the best of a bad bunch, but that’s a low bar. Don’t get too excited.

After that, it’s a cliff dive. Wednesday the 26th through to the end of the period is mostly flat or just knee-high slop. The energy drops back to single digits and tens, with nothing over 33. The winds are offshore at times – like Thursday the 27th morning and Friday the 28th morning – but there’s no swell to push through. It’s a complete blank. Even the few times we see a 0.5ft or 0.25ft bump, the period is short and it’s not breaking properly. By the time we hit the first week of September, the model is showing flat lines and zero combined energy. We are officially in a drought.

So look, the bottom line is this: no good surf options in this 16-day window. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. The only real moment of interest is that possible, slightly-bigger but windy Tuesday the 25th, and even that’s a stretch. If you’re a beginner and just want to get wet, Tuesday the 18th morning is your best bet – clean, small waves. But if you’re looking for something with a bit of push, you’re out of luck. This area is known for these dead runs, so it’s not unusual. They don’t tend to last forever, so keep an eye on it – the forecast can change, and we might get a last-minute pulse. But for now, I’d find something else to do.

Stay stoked, but maybe stay dry this week. – Rusty

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