The South Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, let’s talk about what’s on offer for the next couple of weeks at The South Jetty.

Right off the bat, I gotta say, it’s looking tough. The whole 16-day window is one long, flat, and pretty hopeless run. We’ve got a big gap here—there isn’t a single moment I’d point you to and say “go get it.” The combined swell energy barely ever cracks 50 (24 to 70 range), so the ocean is just tired.

Starting from Sunday the 30th of August right through the first week of September, it’s all tiny stuff. You’re looking at waves mostly around 1ft to 2ft from the SE, with a period hanging around 7 to 8 seconds—short period, weak, gutless. The wind is generally cross or cross-on, chopping it up. There’s a brief moment Tuesday morning September 1st when it goes glassy with the SE breeze, but that swell is only 1ft with a period of 7 seconds—barely a ripple.

Mid-week we get a little spike. Wednesday morning September 2nd, the swell pushes up to 2ft from the SE with period stretching to 11 seconds, and combined energy hits 79. That’s the highest energy we’ll see, but it’s still poor surf conditions—wind is light cross-on, so it’s small wind ripples. Not worth the paddle.

As we roll into the second week, it gets a bit cleaner. By Sunday the 6th, the swell shifts to a short-period S swell, but it’s onshore and messy. The highlight of the whole stretch comes on Friday the 11th of September: we get a fresh offshore wind from the WNW at 22 mph keeping it clean, and the wave height bumps up slightly to 2ft from the SSE, period still short at 7 seconds. Combined energy gets to 70. It’s clean, it’s beautiful to look at, but there just isn’t enough swell to make it worth suiting up.

Saturday the 12th stays clean with fresh offshore winds but the swell drops right back to 1ft, so you’re just bobbing around out there. By Sunday the 13th, early morning goes glassy with a little bump to 3ft from the SSW, but period is a terrible 4 seconds—no push, just bumpy water.

Truth is, if you want to paddle out, you’re gonna be fighting for scraps. The breaks here are a beach and jetty setup, so with this amount of swell and cross-chop, honestly, this looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. We don’t normally see blank runs this long, but this is one of those stretches where patience is the name of the game.

There’s no standout. Not one. The best you can hope for is a clean but tiny wave on the 11th or the glassy 3ft bump on the morning of the 13th. For now, leave the board in the car and watch the horizon.

Rusty.

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