Surfside Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s on offer around Surfside Pier.

Honestly, looking at the next 16 days, it’s a pretty bleak stretch. The data shows a long run of poor surf conditions, and there’s hardly a single session that looks worth chasing. It’s going to be a quiet period, so if you’ve got other things to do, you might not miss much.

The Overall Pattern

From now through the end of August and into the first few days of September, the swell is small and weak. Swell heights are mostly a piddly 0.7 ft to 2 ft, and the wave energy is very low, with the combined energy figure often sitting in the teens or twenties (e.g., 24, 26, 39). The wind is mostly cross-onshore or onshore, keeping things bumpy and messy. There are a couple of brief mornings with glassy conditions, but the swell is just too small to do anything with. Even the longer period swells (like 15 seconds on the 21st of August morning) are only 0.3 ft, so there’s no power behind them.

The water temperature is currently around 84°F, which is about 2°F warmer than usual for this time of year. That’s a bit of a warm anomaly, but not a major shock.

The Best (and Only) True Standout

There’s really only one window that shows a pulse of energy worth noting. On the morning of Wednesday, 2nd September, the combined energy jumps to 108 (moderate). The swell is still small at 3 ft from the ESE, with a period of 9 seconds. The wind is light from the south at 10 km/h, so it’s a cross-onshore breeze, but it’s very light. This is the most energy we’ll see in the whole period. The catch is that the break is inconsistent and the swell direction is very close to the optimum SE direction, so it’s not a perfect match. But given the overall drought, this is the most likely time to find a rideable wave, even if it’s not clean.

The Gaps

After the small, glassy but useless morning of the 21st of August, there’s a long stretch of poor to very poor conditions right through until the end of the month. The 2nd of September morning is the only real blip on the radar. After that, the energy drops back again.

The Verdict

If you’re desperate, the morning of the 2nd of September is your best bet, but keep expectations low. The rest of the time, the surf is simply not worth paddling out for. It tends not to stay this poor for this long, but right now, it’s a write-off.

Rusty.

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