Tices Sholls Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. This is Rusty, and I’m looking at the next couple of weeks for Tices Sholls.

Right off the bat, I gotta be honest with you – the forecast is a bit of a mixed bag. We’ve got a lot of sessions where the conditions are just... ordinary. The swell is small, the wind is all over the place, and it’s not shaping up to be a classic run. The water is sitting at 75°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so that’s one small blessing.

The first real window of opportunity looks like Wednesday morning, the 29th of July. We’ve got a 3 ft swell from the SSE with a short 6-second period and a moderate offshore wind from the WNW. The combined energy is weak (66). It’s surfable, but very ordinary. Not something to get out of bed for, but if you’re desperate, you could get a few.

Thursday morning, the 30th, is a bit similar. Swell drops to 3 ft, still SSE, but the period stretches to 8 seconds. The wind stays offshore from the NW, and the energy is still low (92). It’s clean, but barely a knee-high dribble.

Now, Friday morning, the 31st of July, is the first standout. The wind goes glassy, dead calm from the north at 3 mph. The swell is only 2 ft from the SSE, with a 9-second period (78 energy). It’s tiny, but if you’ve got a log or a longboard, that glassy morning will be as clean as it gets. For a beginner-friendly sandbar like Tices Sholls, that’s about as good as it’s gonna get for a while. Crowds are possible here, so get there early.

The rest of the weekend and into early next week goes downhill. The wind turns onshore, the swell stays small and short-period, and the energy drops into the 30s and 50s. There’s a lot of “poor surf conditions” in the data. It’s a big gap of nothing really worth chasing.

Monday morning, the 10th of August, things get interesting but not for the right reasons. The swell jumps to 5 ft from the SSW, with a 7-second period, and the energy rockets up to 375. That’s moderate wave energy, but the wind is a light cross-onshore from the east, and the comment says “marginal.” That’s a lot of water moving around with messy wind. That setup might be more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The true standout of the whole forecast is Tuesday morning, the 11th of August. This is the one. Swell is 5 ft from the S, 7-second period, and the energy is strong at 372. The wind is a light offshore from the NNW, and it’s expected to be “good surf conditions.” That’s the best call on offer. For a smaller sandbar break, 5 ft is pushing the upper limit for beginners, but for intermediate surfers, that’s chest-to-head high with clean conditions. The period is short, so it won’t be the most powerful, but it’ll be fun. Remember, this is more than a week away, so it’s a promising one but not locked in yet.

After that, the swell drops off again. Wednesday and Thursday are small, weak, and mostly onshore. It peters out into nothing by the end of the 16-day window.

So, to sum it up: Friday morning, the 31st of July, is the glassy, tiny longboard session. Tuesday morning, the 11th of August, is the one with some real push and clean wind. Everything else is just filler.

Rusty, signing off.

Read more