The Inlet and Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, let’s cut to the chase. The next 16 days at The Inlet and Pier are looking like a real test of patience. I’ve got to be straight with you – there’s no swell on the horizon that’s going to get the heart rate up. It's going to be a frustrating stretch.

We’re looking at a long, drawn-out period of tiny surf and messy winds. There’s no juice in the ocean at all. You’ll be on the beach looking at ankle-biters and knee-high slop for the most part, with constant cross-shore winds messing up what little is there.

Kicking off on Wednesday the 12th and Thursday the 13th, it’s completely flat. We’re talking 0.3ft of swell, and the energy is non-existent. The wind is light and variable, so it’s not even clean – just small and bumpy. Not worth getting the wetsuit wet.

Friday the 14th is a minor tease. The swell pushes up to a still-puny 0.6ft, but the period stretches to 9 seconds from the ESE. The energy is a bit better, around 11-14, but it’s still weak. The afternoon might get a bit cleaner with a light cross-off wind, but you’ll be surfing whitewater.

Then the weekend arrives, and things get weird. Saturday the 15th sees a jump in swell height to 2ft off the NE, but it’s short-period junk at just 4 seconds. With a moderate cross-onshore breeze, it’s going to be a chop-fest. Sunday the 16th is worse. The wind kicks up to 22 mph from the S, and the swell, while reading 3ft, is a messy 4-second windswell. The energy gets up to 41, but it’s all lumpy, cross-shore chaos. This is definitely a day for the kite surfers, not the paddle surfers. The water is going to be blown out.

After that, it all drops away. Monday the 17th is flat, absolutely nothing. There’s a real dead gap in the middle of the window where the ocean just gives up. It’s a couple of days of nothing.

Things pick back up, but only just. The rest of the week into the 20th and 21st brings back weak pulses from the ESE and S, but the period is short and the winds are mostly cross-shore. The swell gets to around 2ft on Friday the 21st, but it’s a 5-second windswell again, so expect a walled-up mess.

The next weekend, the 22nd and 23rd, offers a slight glimmer with the period stretching out to 6-8 seconds, but the wind stays fresh and cross-shore. It’s all just lumpy, crumbly slop.

The final stretch from the 24th to the 27th is a sad fade-out. We get some offshore wind windows, particularly on Sunday the 23rd and Monday the 24th, and the period gets up to 12-13 seconds, which is nice and groundswell-y. But the swell is tiny, just 0.6ft to 1ft. There’s no power. It’s a frustrating case of looking clean but having nothing to ride. The energy is still low, mostly under 40.

So, the bottom line? There is no standout day in this entire forecast. Nothing is worth highlighting. The water is about normal for this time of year, so at least you won't freeze, but you'll be doing a lot of floating. The Inlet and Pier is usually a pretty consistent break, but even it can't manufacture waves out of thin air. My advice? Keep the board in the car, but maybe bring a book.

Don’t lose hope. It can’t stay this bad forever.

Rusty.

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