30th Street/Ship Bottom Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s do this in feet and miles.

Right, gather ‘round. Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, I gotta be straight with you – this is a quiet stretch. We’re looking at a long, long gap of tiny, weak surf. The first day with anything worth mentioning isn’t until Monday, the 3rd of August, and even then, it’s not a classic. The whole 16-day window is a bit of a struggle.

For the first few days, from Friday the 31st of July right through the weekend, it’s pretty much flat. The swell is barely there, with heights struggling to hit 2 feet and the combined energy is weak, sitting in the 20-70 range. Winds are a bit of a mess, too. It’s a tough start.

Then, Monday the 3rd of August brings a bit of a pulse. The swell picks up to 4 feet in the morning, hitting 5 feet by the afternoon, coming from the SSE. The combined energy finally gets into triple digits, reaching 164 and then 246. That’s moderate energy, but it’s still a short-period swell at 7-8 seconds, so it’s gonna be a bit lumpy and unorganized. The wind is cross-off from the SSW, which is clean, but the surf quality is still poor. It’s a window for the hungry, but not one for the history books.

After that, it drops back down. From Tuesday the 4th through to the end of the second week, we’re back to waist-high dribble. Swell heights mostly hang around 1 foot to 4 feet, but the energy is weak, usually under 100. The wind does clean up occasionally, like on Tuesday the 11th of August when we get a glassy morning with a light NNW breeze, but the swell is only 2 feet from the SE. It’s a tease.

So, what’s the standout? There isn’t one proper standout, but if I had to pick the least bad option, it’s 30th Street/Ship Bottom on Monday the 3rd of August. The afternoon has the biggest swell of the whole period at 5 feet from the SSE, with clean cross-off winds. The water temperature is about 76°F with a touch warmer anomaly than normal, which is comfortable. But it’s a short-period swell, so it won’t have that punchy, walled-up feel. It’s a short window for the determined local.

The rest of the month is a write-off. There are long gaps of 4-5 days with no real recommendations. The surf quality is consistently poor, and the setup is a beach break, so when the wind is onshore or cross-shore, it’s just a choppy mess. For a spot like this, it’s a normal pattern. It tends not to stay poor for long, but right now, this stretch is a tough one.

Stay patient, and keep an eye on the charts. The ocean will turn back on eventually.

Rusty.

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