Sandy Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the outlook for the next 16 days is a tough one. We’re looking at a long stretch where the conditions just won’t line up for a decent paddle. There’s a gap of no real surf recommendations from now through to the end of the 16-day period.

The main issue is the wind. It’s almost constantly blowing from the ENE at 15 to 25 mph, which is putting a nasty cross-shore or cross-onshore chop on everything. The waves that do show up are getting mangled by that breeze, leaving us with lumpy, messy, poor surf conditions across the board.

Kicking off on Wednesday, August 26, at Sandy Beach, we’ve got a tiny 2 ft swell from the SSW, but with a 22 mph cross-shore wind, it's blowing out. The water’s sitting at a warm 81°, which is about average for this time of year. The combined energy is moderate at 578, but it doesn’t matter with that wind.

Things don’t improve as we head into Thursday and Friday. The swell bumps up a bit, but the wind stays strong. The real problem shows up on Saturday, August 29, when the swell jumps to 6 ft from the ENE, but it’s short-period windswell at just 7 seconds. The wind is howling at 25 mph, making it a messy, cross-shore disaster. Even when the swell gets a bit of period later on, like the 11-second pulse on September 5, the wind is still cross or cross-on, and the conditions are described as "poor surf conditions" every single time. There’s one pulse on September 7 that has strong energy (1174), but again, it’s ruined by a fresh cross-onshore wind.

For a beach and reef setup like Sandy Beach, with this constant wind and sloppy, short-period swell, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The wind state is described as "fresh cross-shore with lumpy cross-chop" or "choppy" for the entire forecast. Honestly, there’s no standout day here. The whole 16-day window is a washout for surf.

Rusty

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