The Wharf Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here.

Let's be honest, looking at the full 16 days, it’s a tough stretch for The Wharf. There’s no true standout session that’s gonna have you dropping everything. The pattern is mostly choppy, onshore, and just plain messy. We’re looking at a long run of poor conditions, with a few fleeting moments of hope that are more about the wind cleaning up than the swell doing anything special.

The water temp is sitting at 82°, which is right on the money for this time of year – nothing weird there.

We kick off on Monday, July 20th, with a solid 6 ft SE swell pushing in with a 14-second period, packing a strong 1543 combined energy. Sounds great, right? Well, the wind is a fresh ESE breeze at 22 mph, blowing straight onshore. It’s a total mess. The wave comment says it all: poor surf conditions. That afternoon drops to 5 ft but the wind is still onshore and strong. No good.

Tuesday the 21st sees the swell drop right off to 3 ft from the SSW with a super long 20-second period. That’s a groundswell, but it’s cross-onshore with a moderate breeze at 16 mph. The energy is still moderate (1036-1283), but it’s choppy and ugly. Poor conditions.

Wednesday the 22nd is more of the same story – small, cross-onshore, and messy. The swell is down to 2 ft. Not worth paddling out for.

Now, Thursday July 23rd is where we get a little flicker. The morning is still cross-onshore and marginal. But the afternoon... the wind goes completely glassy. Dead calm. The swell is 4 ft from the south with a 17-second period, and the combined energy is a solid 902. The wave comment says "expect very good surf conditions." This is the best on offer in the whole forecast. The glassy conditions will make for a clean surface, but remember, that long 17-second period groundswell on a reef break like The Wharf? It can be a bit tricky and straight, but the lack of wind is a huge positive. It’s a Thursday afternoon, so crowds are possible. This is the one to try and sneak out for.

Friday the 24th and Saturday the 25th are back to poor conditions. The swell drops and the wind is onshore again. Saturday afternoon goes glassy, but the swell is only 2 ft with a short 12-second period, so it’s just surfable but very ordinary.

From Sunday the 26th all the way through to the end of the forecast on August 4th, it’s a bleak run. The wind is almost always onshore or cross-onshore, and most of the time the wave comment is "poor surf conditions." There’s a bit of a pulse of energy on Wednesday July 29th with a 5 ft S swell at 16 seconds and a massive 2209 energy reading, but it’s being thrashed by a 19 mph cross-onshore wind. That setup is more interesting for the kite surfers than for paddle surfing. The few times the wind cleans up, like on August 3rd afternoon, the swell is only 3 ft and the rating is marginal.

Bottom line: The only real window worth chasing is the afternoon of Thursday, July 23rd. The rest of the 16 days is a write-off. Don't hold your breath.

-Rusty

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