30th Street/Ship Bottom Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak energy for the next 16 days at 30th Street/Ship Bottom. Honestly, the ocean is looking pretty quiet, with no real standout sessions and plenty of days where you’re better off doing something else. The good news is that the water is running much warmer than normal at 78°, so you won’t be complaining about the cold while you’re sitting there waiting for a bump.

The pattern kicks off the morning of Monday, August 10th, with a tiny 1 foot swell from the south. That’s a short-period windswell stuff with only 10 units of energy, and it’s poor. Monday afternoon doesn’t get any better—0.7 feet and weak. Tuesday, the 11th, is the same story: 2 feet in the morning and then dropping to a pathetic 0.3 feet by the afternoon. That afternoon does have light offshore wind, but on 0.3 feet, you’re not catching anything.

Wednesday the 12th and Thursday the 13th are flat and junk. Thursday afternoon, though, we finally see a pulse jump to 4 feet from the south, with moderate energy (122), but it’s a 5-second period and the conditions are still labelled poor. Too little power and messy. Friday the 14th through Sunday the 16th stay in the gutless 1 foot to 2 foot range. There’s a window on Monday, August 17th, where the morning delivers 4 feet and the afternoon 4 feet from the south, with moderate energy readings of 111 and 198, and clean winds. That’s the most promising day in the first week, but the wave quality report still says poor, so don’t expect miracles—just a bit more push in some clean lines.

After that, we drift back into weak territory. Tuesday the 18th afternoon shows a 2 foot swell from the southeast, but with a very long 15-second period (energy 234). That’s a lot of energy for such a small wave, and that long period on a beach break like this will likely close out or run straight. Not ideal. The following days through the 22nd are a mix of small junk and clean but tiny surf.

Finally, on Sunday, August 23rd, we hit the only “surfable but very ordinary” rating in the whole 16-day window. Both the morning and afternoon have 2 foot swell from the SSE, a period around 7-8 seconds, and clean cross-offshore winds. Energy is low—53 and 58—so it’s weak, but you might snag a little ankle-biter if you’re desperate. Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th close the forecast with fresh onshore winds and lumpy, choppy conditions—definitely a pass.

So, bottom line: don’t plan a trip. There’s a slightly better bump on Monday the 17th, and the 23rd offers something rideable, but nothing here is worth shouting about. It can change, but right now it’s a long blank run for the area.

Rusty.

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