Shipwrecks Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – the next week and a half is looking pretty rough. We’ve got a lot of wind straight on from the ESE and SSE, and the surf itself is just not cooperating. It’s a bit of a tough run. For the first several days, the swell is small and the wind is just ruining any chance of a clean wave. The water is a warm 85°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year, a pretty big anomaly.

We’re looking at Shipwrecks, a reef and point setup that’s fairly consistent and takes a south swell. The problem is, for the first week, the wind is mostly onshore. It’s not until we get to the afternoon of Saturday the 25th that we finally see a glimmer of hope. The swell picks up to 4ft from the SSW with a period of 19 seconds – that’s some serious groundswell. The wind is a gentle cross-shore, which is a major positive. The combined energy hits 1247 (strong wave energy), and the score is the best we’ve seen so far. This is the standout of the whole outlook. It’s not going to be huge, but it’ll be clean and have some grunt. The long period (19 seconds) means it’s a proper groundswell, so expect longer lulls between sets, but the waves that come through will be well-shaped and have plenty of push. Because it’s a point and reef, it should handle that long period just fine.

The following week, the swell stays in the 3ft to 5ft range, but the wind is messy – cross-on and cross-off mostly. The morning of Wednesday the 29th sees a bigger 6ft SSW swell, but the wind is cross-on, making it choppy. That’s probably too big and blown out for a good time. The morning of Thursday the 30th also has a promising 5ft SW swell, but again, the wind is a problem. The afternoon of the 30th sees a clean cross-off wind, but the swell drops to 5ft with a shorter period of 13 seconds.

After the 30th, the energy drops off a cliff. By the 1st and 2nd of August, we’re back to tiny, weak swell with onshore winds. It’s a real fizzle-out.

So, to wrap it up: it’s a slow start, wait it out. Your best bet is the afternoon of Saturday the 25th at Shipwrecks. That’s the one window where the stars align. After that, it’s a scrape for anything decent.

Rusty.

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