Turtle Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at this 16-day stretch. I gotta be straight with you – the outlook for Turtle Cove (reef and point) is mostly a flat, quiet picture, with a couple of late-period flashes that might get the heart beating if you’re patient.

For the first week and a half, it’s a long, drawn-out gap. From Monday the 10th right through to Sunday the 16th of August, there’s nothing worth paddling out for. The swell is tiny – we’re talking 0.3ft to 3ft, with weak energy readings between 4 and 41, and short, weak periods. Winds are often cross-off or offshore, keeping the water clean, but without any real waves you’re just looking at a flat lake. It’s frustrating, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Then, around Monday the 17th, we start to see something stirring. Monday afternoon brings a new pulse of swell: 7ft from the SSW, with a combined energy of 359 (moderate) and clean offshore west winds. The period is short at 7 seconds, so it’s a bit of a windswell bump, not a smooth groundswell. Still, it’s the first real rideable surf in over a week. That afternoon window is the standout of the whole period—clean, with enough size to get a few fun ones. It’s intermediate-friendly but getting close to that 8ft mark, so watch the bigger sets.

Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th see some leftover energy, but the swell drops back to 2ft to 3ft. The combined energy stays moderate (235 to 475), with a very long period creeping in—up to 17 seconds on Wednesday afternoon. That’s a pure groundswell, and at a reef and point set-up like Turtle Cove, it can produce some nice, lined-up waves. But the sizes are marginal, and the wind is cross or cross-on, so it’s not firing. A couple of those sessions are “marginal” at best.

From Thursday the 20th onward, we get more wind, more size (4ft to 5ft on the 20th and 21st), and moderate combined energy (241 to 348), but the wind stays cross-off from the SW and SSW, and the period stays short. The surf is there, but it’s not well-shaped—more of a choppy, wind-affected mess. By the 22nd, it’s back to small, weak, and onshore. The last few days of the window (23rd to 25th) are flat and poor again.

Water temps are around 72°F with a tiny anomaly of +0.2°F – pretty much average for this time of year, nothing to write home about.

So, the one true standout is Monday afternoon, August 17th. That’s the best on offer: 7ft SSW swell, clean offshore wind, and moderate energy. It’s not perfect, but after such a long dry spell, it’ll feel like a gift. Get it while it’s there, because the rest of the window is quiet or messy. Signs off - Rusty.

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