30th Street/Ship Bottom Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s shaping up.

To be straight with you, this is a grim run for 30th Street/Ship Bottom. Looking at the whole 16-day window, there’s hardly a pulse worth chasing. The first real surf recommendation doesn’t show up until the 17th of July, and even that is barely worth the paddle out. That leaves over a week of flat, messy, or just plain hopeless conditions from now through mid-July.

For the first week, it’s a dead zone. Swells are tiny, mostly under 3 ft, with short periods (5 to 8 seconds) and combined wave energy is weak – often in the 18 to 69 range, with a few brief bumps to around 111 (moderate energy) on the 8th, but even then the wind is cross-onshore and chops it to bits. The water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual there.

Thursday the 9th and Friday the 10th see the wind go cross-offshore and the waves get clean, but the swell is pathetic – only 1.0 ft to 2 ft. You’d be skipping stones, not surfing. Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th are a write-off with onshore winds and lumpy junk.

The only glimmer, and I mean a faint one, comes on Friday the 17th of July. By the afternoon, we get offshore wind from the West at 12 mph, clean conditions, a little 2 ft swell from the S with a period of 7 seconds. The combined wave energy is 50, weak. The rating says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions” – that’s the best you’ll see. Saturday the 18th morning is dead glassy with zero wind, but again only 2 ft from the S and a period of 5 seconds. That’s for absolute longboard bliss or a flat spell. Crowds at 30th Street can show up sometimes, so even on these tiny days it might be busy.

There’s a little bump around the 21st of July with 3 ft swell from the ESE and ENE, and combined energy of 130 (moderate), but it’s onshore wind and the wave comment stays “poor surf conditions.” Not worth the drive.

Honestly, the whole 16-day stretch is a bust for any meaningful surf. The only day with offshore wind and any sort of rideable swell is the 17th. If you’re desperate, that’s your window. Otherwise, wait for the next system.

Rusty.

Read more