The Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. The surf's been flat and the wind's been all over the shop, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

The next week to a week and a half is looking pretty average for The Cove. We've got a lot of small, short-period swell and windy conditions that are just going to churn things up. The first real pulse of proper west-northwest swell doesn't show up until Thursday the 4th of September, and even then, it's going to be a bit messy. Before that, though, we're looking at a dry spell.

The energy is just weak. For most of the first few days, combined wave energy sits below 100, and then it builds slightly but the wind and terrible angles just ruin it. The swell is under 3ft until Sunday the 30th when it gets to around 4-5ft from the north, but with onshore cross-winds, it's going to be a mess. It's not worth paddling out for that.

There's a small window on Monday morning, August 31st. The wind finally goes offshore from the SSW at 6 mph, and while the swell is only 4ft from the north at 8 seconds, it's clean. It's surfable, but it's very ordinary. The energy is moderate at 180. If you're super keen, you might find a few crumbly ones, but it's not going to be a day to remember.

The first real standout, and the one to circle on the calendar, is the morning of Thursday, September 4th. The swell jumps up to 7ft from the west with a period of 11 seconds, and this is where the energy really kicks in. The combined energy is a strong 1101, and the wind is a cross-offshore WSW at 19 mph, so it should be reasonably clean out there. This is the biggest, most powerful swell we've seen in the window, and it's The Cove’s optimum direction (NW), so it should handle it well. This is the one. The afternoon builds to 8ft at 12 seconds, even more energy (1920), but it gets a little bigger and may be closing out. The morning looks like the pick.

The following days aren't as good. Friday and Saturday (Sept 5-6) have serious size—over 8ft at times—but the wind is stronger and more cross-shore, making it lumpy. For The Cove, a reef break, that big west swell is more for experts who can handle the power and the possible closeouts. The water is also still on the cooler side. The anomaly is 1°F, so it's about average for the time of year, around 57-59 degrees, not warm, but not freezing either.

After that big pulse, it backs down quickly, and then we see a couple of smaller pulses with poor winds. The second week of September looks less promising. We get some size again on Monday the 8th of September, but the WNW wind is howling at 31 mph in the morning. That's blown-out. It's not surfable. The combined energy will be high, but it's all chaos. The rest of that week settles back into small, weak, and messy conditions.

So, bottom line: if you've got to get wet, go for Monday morning. But the real gem, the one that's worth waiting for, is that Thursday morning, September 4th, swell. It's got the size, the direction, and the energy. It's a promising outlook, but long-range forecasts can shift, so keep an eye on it. For everything else, it might be better to wax the kiteboard.

Rusty.

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