The Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here again. Let’s run through what’s happening at The Island, this time in feet and miles per hour. It’s a long look ahead, so remember that for anything in the second week, it’s promising but less certain. We start right off the bat this Thursday morning, August 6th, with something clean and solid.

The Island (reef) is your target. The whole 16-day window is riding on a long-period SW groundswell, with periods mostly between 15 and 18 seconds. That means the waves have real grunt and shape, but a reef exposure like this handles that long period better than a beach break. The water temp is 59°, which is about what you expect for this time of year—no big anomaly.

Let’s break it down. Thursday morning, August 6th, is your main window. We’ve got a clean 4 ft SW swell with a 16-second period, and the wind is light and cross-off from the SSE at just over 6 mph. That makes for glassy, clean faces. The combined energy is a moderate 922—nothing huge, but it’s clean and walled. This is a standout, hands down.

Thursday afternoon sees the swell nudge up to 5 ft, and the energy climbs to 1230, but the wind goes southerly and cross-shore, bringing a little texture to the surface. You get more size, but you lose that mirror finish.

Friday the 7th has the swell hitting 6 ft in the morning with 1711 energy, but a strong northerly wind at 25 mph turns the wave faces into a messy cross-chop. Skip it. Friday afternoon is still cross and grotty.

The weekend is a write-off for surfing. Saturday the 8th holds near 6 ft, but the wind is cross-onshore, making it choppy. Then Sunday the 9th gets ugly—the swell jumps to 10 ft from the WSW with near-gale winds hitting 34 mph. That’s 4004 energy behind a total blown-out mess. That wave is just a windblown wall. For paddle surfing it’s a no-go; honestly, that looks more interesting for kite surfing than a surfboard.

Monday the 10th keeps the pain going with 8 ft waves but the wind is fresh onshore. Tuesday the 11th drops to 5 ft but the wind is still howling near 25 mph. Wednesday the 12th sees a massive 10 ft swell with 5139 energy, and it’s onshore and lumpy. Experts only, and even they wouldn’t love it.

Thursday the 13th offers a small reprieve—the wind drops to a light breeze from the SW on a 8 ft swell, but it’s still cross-onshore. It’s ridable, but marginal. That trend holds through Friday and Saturday the 14th and 15th with moderate chop.

Now for the good news. Look ahead to Sunday morning, August 16th. The swell drops to a fun 4 ft from the SW, still with a 15-second period. The wind goes light and cross-off from the ENE at just over 6 mph, cleaning the wave faces right up. This is your second standout of the whole run. The energy is a gentle 777, so it’s a playful size, but it will be clean and rippable on the reef.

After that, the final few days (August 17th to 21st) turn windy again. The swell jumps between 4 ft and 8 ft, but the wind is mostly cross or cross-onshore from the north or south, keeping the surf lumpy and uninviting.

Final call: Hit it Thursday morning, August 6th, for the cleanest early session, and circle Sunday morning, August 16th, for another sweet, glassy window. The rest of the period has size but gets thrashed by wind.

Rusty.

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