Sandy Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the table for Sandy Beach.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you—this 16-day window is a rough one for Sandy Beach. The waves are around, but the wind is just a constant nightmare. It's coming from the ENE, and it's cross-shore or cross-on-shore almost every single day, which is just going to chop everything up. It's a real bummer because there's some decent energy in the water, but it's all going to be blown out.

We start off the first week with a pulse of swell. On Monday, the 3rd of August, we’ve got a 5ft ENE swell with an 8-second period, pushing a moderate 470 units of combined energy. But with a 15 mph cross-shore wind, it's just poor. The water temp is a warm 81°, which is pretty normal for this time of year. Tuesday, the 4th, the period stretches out to 11 seconds, which is a nice sign of better groundswell, and the energy bumps up to 587, but the wind sits at 9 mph cross-shore and the report calls it "marginal." It's still too messy to get excited about.

The rest of the first week and into the second is more of the same. The swell hangs around the 3ft to 6ft mark, but the wind sometimes picks up to a strong 22-25 mph. The combined energy shows some moderate to strong numbers, like 604 and 836. But with the wind howling cross-shore, the wave quality is just "poor" every time. It's a classic case of all the energy and no shape.

Now, there is a glimmer in the very long range. On the 12th of August, a Wednesday, we see a pulse of S swell with a very long 18-second period, pushing energy up to 1000. That's a proper groundswell. But it's still crossed-up by a 22 mph ENE wind. The next day, the 13th, the swell drops to 3ft from the S with a 16-second period, still good energy, but the wind is a cross-onshore 15 mph. It's frustrating.

The real "maybe" is on Monday, the 17th of August. A 7ft ENE swell with an 8-second period and a combined energy of 1190. That's a lot of power. But the wind is still a strong 25 mph cross-shore. For a beach break like this, with that much wind, it's going to be a washing machine. That size is getting into expert-only territory, but the conditions just won't be there for anyone.

Honestly, for the paddle surfer, this is a write-off. The setup is more interesting for the kite surfers, who can handle the strong cross-shore winds. You're looking at a solid 16-day gap with no real recommendations. It's a tough run.

Rusty.

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