Suicide Cliffs Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the table for Suicide Cliffs over the next couple of weeks.

We start off with a bit of a tease. The first few days have waves, but the ocean isn't playing nice just yet. The standout window is Thursday, September 3rd – that’s the one to circle right now. We’ve got a solid 4 ft to 5 ft SW groundswell rolling in with a nice 12-second period. The kicker is that N wind is blowing straight offshore in the morning, making it glassy. Combined energy is pumping in at 513 (moderate-high energy), and the guidance says the optimum is from the SW, so this swell is dialed in. It’s a reef break setup, so that long period will wrap in nicely. Thursday morning sees clean, gentle offshore breezes and really good surf conditions. Thursday afternoon holds up too, but the wind swings cross-off; still workable. This is your best bet – the standout of the whole outlook.

Friday, September 4th, things go south. The wind swings onshore and choppy, and the quality tanks. Not worth paddling out. Saturday, September 5th is clean but the swell drops to 4 ft-4 ft, weaker energy (300-398), and the period drops to a short 8 seconds – it’ll be weak and disorganized. The fresh cross-off breeze keeps it looking tidy, but the waves are just too average.

Sunday, September 6th brings that NW swell up to a chunky 8 ft in the morning, hitting 8 ft in the afternoon. But it's a short-period, 7-8 second NW windswell, and you've got fresh cross-off winds – the energy is moderate (599-829) but it’s not the kind of swell that will wrap well into this reef. It’s going to be messy. Marginal at best.

Monday, September 7th is a glimmer – the morning has 7 ft NW swell with 7 seconds, still short, but the wind flips to offshore from the N at 12 mph, so it’s clean. The combined energy drops to 393 for the morning. It’s surfable, but not a classic.

From Tuesday, September 8th through to mid-month, it’s disappointing. Swell heights drop below 3 ft and combined energy sits under 100 (weak). A few mornings here and there are clean, but there’s just not enough oomph. That’s a solid 7-8 day stretch of tiny to flat waves. You might as well take the gear off the car.

Then, as we roll into the second week, things start to look interesting again. By Wednesday, September 16th, the S swell builds to only 3 ft-4 ft, but the period stretches to 11 seconds – that’s decent groundswell energy. The winds are light offshore, the combined energy gets back into the low hundreds (231-291), and it would be a clean, fun size for an intermediate. That’s promising, but it’s still over a week away.

The real eye-opener is Thursday, September 17th. The swell jumps to 6 ft in the morning, with a 13-second S groundswell. The combined energy hits 972 (strong) – that is the build of the whole run. Offshore NE winds keep it clean in the morning. That is proper groundswell, and while it's a solid size, it's not yet too big for the experienced crew. Friday, September 18th brings 10 ft S swell with a 14-second period and a massive combined energy of 3335 – that is very strong. That’s expert territory, especially on a reef. The wind stays cross-off, so it’s clean, but that size and long period will make it a heavy, powerful wave. For a beach break it might close out, but on this reef, it could be a big, grinding wall for those who are solid. That’s a big-boy session.

So to wrap it up, the two true standouts are Thursday morning, September 3rd for the clean, fun SW groundswell, and Thursday morning, September 17th for the building S groundswell with offshore wind. Both are real quality windows. That long, flat gap in the middle is rough, but the end of the outlook has a pulse that’s worth waiting for.

Rusty.

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