Tropicana Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the menu over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, it’s a bit of a grim picture. We’ve got a long stretch of poor surf conditions with hardly any swell to speak of. For the next few days, there’s barely a ripple, so don’t expect much.

We’ve got a 16-day window here, but honestly, there’s no real standout session. The only break on offer is Tropicana (reef), but the numbers don’t lie – the wave energy is weak to non-existent for the entire forecast. There is a tiny window of weak swell, but it’s nothing to get excited about.

Let’s start with what’s coming. From Wednesday the 19th right through to the end of the month, we’re looking at an almost total drought. The combined swell energy stays below 13, meaning we’re dealing with either flat conditions or ankle-snappers. There’s a tiny pulse around the 21st of August with a 1 ft N swell, but it’s short-period (7-8 seconds) and the combined energy is only 10 – that’s barely a bump. The winds, while offshore from the east, are strong, gusting up to 18-22 mph, which will keep the surface a bit textured. Still, the swell’s just too small.

The water temp at Tropicana sits at 84°F, which is about average for the time of year with a +0.9°F anomaly – nothing unusual.

The best of a bad lot might be around Monday the 30th of August into Tuesday the 1st of September, where we see a small 0.7 ft N swell with a period of 13 seconds. That's a longer period groundswell, which can sometimes offer a bit more push on a reef setup like Tropicana. The winds are lighter and cross-offshore from the ESE, keeping things clean. But again, it's tiny. The combined energy is only 13, which is weak. It's likely a knee-high dribble at best.

Further out, early September goes totally flat.

Look, if you’re desperate, the best bet is Tropicana around the 30th of August for the cleanest conditions and the best (though still small) quality of swell. It’s an advanced reef break, though, and with this little energy, it’s probably not even breaking properly. For beginners, there’s nothing here for you at all.

Honestly, for a stretch like this, the consistent offshore winds and lack of size might actually make this more interesting for kite surfing than for a proper paddle session.

For now, just watch the charts. It tends not to stay this poor for long around here.

Rusty.

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