Sandy Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get real about the next couple of weeks. I’m looking at Sandy Beach and, honestly, it’s a bit of a battle out there. The overall pattern is one of persistent, annoying cross-shore winds that are going to keep things messy for the foreseeable future. We’ve got a lot of swell on the way, but it’s going to be mostly junky and lumpy because of the wind.

We start off the window on Sunday morning, August 2nd. We’ve got some energy in the water—a solid 7ft of east-northeast swell—but the wind is howling at 25 mph straight across it. It’s a washing machine. The combined energy is strong at 1061, but with that cross-chop, it’s just not rideable. That theme continues through Monday and into Tuesday. The swell drops a bit to 5ft and 5ft, but the wind is relentless. Tuesday morning, we finally see the period jump to 11 seconds, which is a hint of better things to come, but it’s still blown out.

The mid-week period from Wednesday the 5th through the weekend is all about waiting. The swell fades, and the wind never really gives us a break. There’s still plenty of cross-shore wind, and the surf looks poor. We're stuck in a rut with weak, short-period windswell mixed with the same old messy conditions.

Here’s the thing though—while the surf quality stays poor, the long-range models are showing a shift in the swell direction. We start seeing signs of a south-southwest groundswell around Friday the 7th, but it’s small and the wind ruins it. By late next week, around August 11th and 12th, we have a real pulse of long-period south swell filling in. We’re talking 3ft to 4ft of swell with periods of 18 to 20 seconds. This is proper groundswell, with strong combined energy peaking at 971 on the Wednesday afternoon. But here’s the kicker—the wind is still cross-shore and fresh, so even with that beautiful period, it’s going to be lumpy. This swell is best suited for a point or reef break, but at a beach and reef setup like Sandy Beach, that long period can make it sectiony and hard to ride.

The water temp is sitting at 81°, which is about average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

The standout moment, if there is one, is probably the middle of the second week. Look for the south swell on the 12th and 13th. The period is long, and there’s some size, but the quality is still on the fence. It’s promising, but I wouldn’t book a flight for it. The later part of the window, around the 17th, shows a return to the east-northeast swell, but it’s still short-period and cross-windy.

Honestly, for the next 16 days, there’s nothing here that gets me truly excited. It’s a bleak run. If you’re desperate, the south swells in the second week are the best of a bad lot, but they’re far from guaranteed to be good. Keep an eye on the forecasts, because these things can change, but don't hold your breath.

Rusty out.

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