30th Street/Ship Bottom Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, Rusty here, and I gotta be straight with you. For the next couple of weeks, it’s a bit of a slow grind. The first week is mostly a write-off with tiny, weak swell and onshore winds messing things up. We do have a real standout at the end of the period, but you’ll need to be patient for it.

We’ll start at 30th Street/Ship Bottom. The water temp is sitting at about 74.1°F, which is a full 4.7°F warmer than average for this time of year – that’s a major treat, feels like a bathtub out there.

Kicking off on Friday 3 July, it’s tiny. We’re looking at a pathetic 1.3ft of swell out of the southeast with a short, weak 10-second period. The combined energy is a low 32, so you’re barely getting a bump. On Saturday morning it drops even further to 1.0ft. Sunday morning on 5 July you get a moment of glassy wind, but the swell is still just 1.0ft – you’d be floating more than surfing. The pattern continues with nothing over 1.6ft through to Wednesday 8 July, with cross-onshore winds and short periods keeping the quality non-existent. It’s all “poor” conditions.

We get a slight, disappointing bump on Saturday 11 July afternoon, with 2.0ft and a light offshore wind, giving us a “surfable but ordinary” rating. The energy is still just 83. That’s the best of a bad bunch for a while, but it’s tiny. Then Monday 13 July morning brings 3.3ft with clean conditions, but it’s a short 5-second period (combined energy 82), so it’s weak and crumbly. The afternoon picks up to 3.9ft but the quality rating doesn’t approve.

Now, the standout. On Thursday 16 July, we get a proper window. The morning has a clean 5.9ft swell from the south (8-second period). The combined energy jumps to a robust 687, and with completely glassy winds, those lines should be peeling clean. This is the one to aim for. The size is solid enough that beginners might find it a bit much, but for anyone with a bit of experience, that’s the session of the fortnight. The afternoon on the same day turns messy with onshore winds, so get it early.

After that, Friday 17 July and Saturday 18 July drop back down to smaller, weaker swell with moderate offshore winds, but the energy fades out again.

So the summary: the first week is a near-total bust with tiny waves. Target Thursday 16 July morning at 30th Street for the only real surf worth paddling out for. It’s a long way off, but it looks promising.

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