Surf City Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on offer for the next couple of weeks around Surf City Pier.

Right off the bat, it’s a tough start. The next week and a half is looking pretty grim. We’re stuck with small, weak windswell for the most part, with a lot of onshore or cross-shore wind messing things up. The water temp is a warm 83°, which is spot on for this time of year, so that’s a nice thing to fall back on, but it’s not enough to get excited about.

We do have a long stretch of real quiet conditions. From Wednesday the 19th all the way through to the morning of Sunday the 23rd, there’s nothing worth paddling out for. The swell is tiny, under 2ft, and the energy is weak (44–54 range). Even the glassy mornings on Friday the 21st and Saturday the 22nd are just a tease with no real waves to work with.

Finally, on Sunday morning the 23rd, we get a little something. It’s a small, short-period swell from the SSE at 3ft with a period of 6 seconds, but the WSW wind is blowing cross-offshore, cleaning it up. The energy is still low (68), and the surf is described as "surfable but very ordinary." It’s a tiny step up, but it’s still not a day to call friends about.

The rest of that week continues the pattern of small, choppy conditions. Monday the 24th morning has a 1ft, 12-second period SE swell with a clean W cross-offshore breeze, but it’s barely a ripple. On Wednesday the 26th, the swell jumps to 4ft from the SW with a 6-second period, and the energy hits 120, but it’s accompanied by a 16 mph cross-onshore wind, making it a total mess. That’s kite-surfing conditions, not for a paddle surfer.

The best run of the whole outlook comes right at the end, on Friday the 28th of August. The morning has a 2ft SSE swell, 9-second period, with a light N cross-offshore breeze leaving it clean. The energy is 84. Then the afternoon is even better, with glassy conditions and a 2ft, 9-second SE swell, and the energy actually climbs to 106. That’s the first time we see moderate energy in the water. It’s still small, but with clean, glassy conditions, it would be something to get out on a longboard for.

After that, the forecast rolls back into tiny, onshore-affected surf through the end of the month and into September.

So, the one standout here is Friday the 28th of August. The afternoon session at Surf City Pier will be the best we get. The swell is small at 2ft, but it’s a clean, glassy SE swell with moderate energy (106). The wind is flat calm, so it’ll be as smooth as a lake. It’s not a day for barrels, but for a longboard cruise in the warm weather, that’s the window.

Rusty.

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