Shooting Gallery Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, it’s Rusty here, and I’ve gotta give it to you straight – we’re looking at a pretty grim stretch ahead at Shooting Gallery. This reef break is fairly exposed to the north-northwest, but the problem is the wind just won’t play ball. For the entire forecast period, it’s mostly a cross-onshore mess, which means choppy, blown-out surf. There’s no standout session in this run, so don’t expect any magic.

Let’s start with the opening days. From Monday, the 10th of August, through the following weekend, we’ve got a persistent northerly breeze around 12 to 16 mph, mostly cross-onshore. Swell height sits at a modest 3 ft to 4 ft from the north, with periods short and weak – mostly 5 to 7 seconds. The combined energy of all swells is moderate, hovering between 115 and 313. The water temp is about 74°F with an anomaly of 2°F, so it’s a touch warmer than usual for the time of year. But honestly, with that wind and short-period chop, the waves are going to be crumbly and frustrating. The morning of Saturday the 15th shows a brief onshore wind with 5 ft swell and energy at 313, but it’s still categorized as poor surf conditions – that’s not a goer for paddle surfing.

As we roll into the second week, things don’t improve much. Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th keep the cross-onshore theme alive, with similar 4 ft swell and moderate energy around 198 to 247. On Wednesday the 19th, we finally see a shift – a cross-offshore wind from the west-northwest at 12 mph, which cleans things up. The swell drops to 3 ft with a period of 9 seconds from the north, and the energy is weak at 127. It’s the best it’s gonna look, but with that tiny swell, it’s barely rideable.

The tail end of the forecast, from the 23rd to the 25th, gets interesting on paper. A long-period groundswell arrives from the west-northwest and northwest, with periods stretching 14 to 18 seconds and combined energy jumping to 321 to 379 – that’s strong wave energy. But the swell height is only 2 ft to 3 ft, and the wind is back to a cross-onshore northerly. That long-period energy will struggle to produce decent waves at a beach setup, and with the wind on it, it’s going to be messy. Not worth the paddle.

Overall, there are no good surf options on offer here. It’s a blank run of poor conditions that stretches the full 16 days. Shooting Gallery just isn’t lining up this time around. Keep your board waxed and your eyes on the forecast – it tends not to stay this bad forever.

Rusty.

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