Surf City Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let's look at what we’ve got coming up for Surf City Pier. It's a bit of a lean spell, so don't get your hopes up too high.

The overall pattern is pretty flat for the next week or so. We’re looking at a lot of small, weak energy and a fair bit of onshore wind messing things up. The best I can say is that there are a few mornings where it cleans up, but the swell just isn’t there to make it worth paddling out.

Let’s start with the first bit of hope. On Saturday, August 22nd, we see a small bump. The morning will have a 2ft swell from the S with a short period of 5 seconds, and the combined energy is weak at 64. The wind is light and cross-offshore from the SW though, which will keep the surface clean. It’s surfable, but very ordinary. The afternoon is similar, with a 3ft S swell, still clean enough. Not a standout, but it's the best of a bad bunch for the first few days.

Sunday, August 23rd morning gives us the first real hint of something. The swell is 3ft from the S, period still a short 6 seconds, but the combined energy nudges into the moderate range at 101. With the WSW cross-offshore wind at 6 mph, it’ll be clean. This is probably the pick of the first week, but it's nothing to write home about.

After that, we slide back into poor surf conditions with onshore winds and tiny waves until around Friday, August 28th morning, when another 3ft S swell appears with clean, cross-offshore wind. Again, just surfable.

Then there’s a real dry spell. From the afternoon of the 28th all the way through the end of August and the first day of September, it’s basically all poor conditions with onshore winds and tiny waves. The exception is a couple of surf sessions around September 1st where the swell period gets long—15 and 13 seconds—and the combined energy jumps to 108 and then 234. But the wind is cross or cross-onshore and strong, making it choppy and messy. The energy is there, but the quality is not. A long-period SE groundswell like that would want a point or reef, not a sandbar with a cross-chop.

The closest thing to a standout in this whole outlook is Wednesday, September 2nd morning. It’s over a week away, so treat it with caution, but the data shows a 2ft SE swell with an 11-second period, giving a moderate combined energy of 181. The wind is light and cross-offshore from the WSW, so it should be clean. For Surf City Pier, with that SE direction and clean conditions, it’s the best shot we get. The water temperature is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual.

Honestly, if you’re a kite surfer, the afternoons with moderate cross-onshore wind and a bit of chop might look more interesting than what we have for paddling. For us surfers, it’s a waiting game. The forecasts can change, so keep an eye on it, but right now, it’s a lot of small, ordinary surf.

Stay patient,
Rusty

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