Shooting Gallery Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Listen up, crew. Rusty here. We’ve got a 16-day window on the Shooting Gallery that’s more about raw power than clean perfection. The wind is gonna be our headache most of the run, but there’s some serious grunt building in the far end.

Right now, on July 14th, there’s a tiny 3ft pulse from the NNW with a short 8-second period and weak combined wave energy (83). The water’s at 73°, a touch warmer than usual for this time of year. But with the wind howling onshore from the NE at 9 mph, it’s a bumpy, poor-quality mess. That’s the story for the first few days: Tuesday and Wednesday (July 15) with a 2ft swell and more onshore wind. Total washout. Don’t even bother.

Thursday morning (July 16) sees a tiny 3ft NNE swell, but the period drops to a pathetic 5 seconds. The energy bumps to a moderate 105, but with the wind still onshore, it’s just a choppy, weak wave. Through Friday and into the weekend, the swell builds slowly to about 4-5ft from the NNE and N with moderate energy (126-168), but the wind stays cross-onshore from the N and NNE at 15-18 mph. It’s gonna be lumpy, choppy, and junky. Nothing to write home about.

We’re looking at a huge, dry gap. From July 14th all the way through to about July 23rd, it’s poor quality, poor quality, poor quality. The consistency is there at this reef, but the quality is not.

The second week finally sparks something. On July 24th (Friday morning), we get a 4ft N swell with a 7-second period and a light NE breeze at 6 mph. The energy is 162. It’s the best wind window we’ve seen all forecast, but the wave comment is still “poor surf conditions.” It’s a maybe.

The real standout, the one to circle, is building into the final days. Monday, July 27th shows a 5ft NNE swell with a 7-second period and strong wave energy (305) in the morning, jumping to very strong (332) by afternoon. The cross-onshore wind from the NNE at 15-18 mph will keep it lumpy.

But Tuesday, July 28th. That’s the big one. A solid 6ft N swell (big enough to be expert territory for most), with an 8-second period and massive combined energy of 568-569. That’s a serious push of water heading into this reef. The catch? A strong cross-onshore wind from the NNE at 25 mph. It’ll be messy, lumpy, and powerful. This is for the experienced crew only. The energy is huge, but the wind will make it a battle. Wednesday, July 29th drops to a 5-5ft N swell with strong energy (365-429) and still cross-onshore.

Honestly, there’s no glassy, perfect day in this forecast. The wind is the boss here. But for the charge-minded, the July 27th and especially the July 28th window offers the most size and power. If you can handle a fight and love a bit of juice, that Tuesday (July 28) is your shot. Everything else is a scratch.

Rusty.

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