21st Street (Miami) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get real here. I’ve looked over the goods for the next couple of weeks, and honestly, it’s a tough one. We’re staring down a long, dry spell with nothing really worth paddling out for. The only spot on the radar is 21st Street (Miami), and it’s an inconsistent little wave that rarely kicks into gear. The whole 16-day window is basically a bust, so don’t hold your breath.

The water temperature is running about average for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a wetsuit, but you’ll need a whole lot of patience.

Right now, from Sunday the 2nd of August, we’ve got nothing. Tiny, short-period slop coming from the south and southeast, with cross and onshore winds messing up what little is there. The wave energy is barely a whisper, reading around 17 to 18 (combined energy), and the swell is a pathetic 2 ft at 4 seconds. That’s not surf, that’s bathwater with a breeze.

Monday the 3rd and Tuesday the 4th are more of the same – 0.7 ft to 1.0 ft of weak, wind-affected junk. The wind is either cross or onshore, keeping things choppy and uninviting. The energy readings are in the low teens, which is just sad.

We roll into Wednesday the 5th and Thursday the 6th, and the swell tries to nudge up to 3 ft, but it’s still coming from the east-southeast with a crummy 4-second period. The wind is onshore or cross-onshore, 12 to 16 mph, creating a mess. Even with the energy creeping up to 28, it’s still “poor surf conditions” across the board.

From Friday the 7th through the weekend, we see a slight shift. The swell direction swings to the northeast, and the period stretches to 8–9 seconds, which is a little more promising. The energy builds to 54 on Saturday the 8th and 66 that afternoon, with 1 ft to 2 ft of swell. But the wind is still onshore from the east-northeast, so it’s going to be a bumpy, blown-out mess. Not worth the drive.

The second week doesn’t get any better. Monday the 10th of August sees the biggest swell of the whole period – 4 ft from the southeast, with a 5-second period. The wave energy hits 102 (moderate), which sounds alright, but the wind is cross-onshore at 12 mph, and the surf quality is still rated poor. It’s just not coming together.

After that, it’s a slow fade into tiny, weak, onshore junk for the rest of the window. Energy readings drop back to single digits and low teens. The wind stays stubbornly cross-onshore or onshore, and the swell never gets any size or direction to make it worthwhile.

The bottom line: there are no good surf options in this 16-day window. 21st Street is inconsistent and rarely breaks, and when it does, the conditions are rubbish. For a place like Miami, this kind of blank run is pretty normal when the summer pattern locks in. It tends not to stay poor for long, and forecasts can change, but right now, I’d save your energy.

Stay tuned, and don’t sell your board just yet.

Rusty

Read more