Tybee Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – the next 16 days out at Tybee Pier are looking pretty grim. We’ve got a long stretch of weak, choppy, onshore slop, and not a single standout session in the whole window. It’s one of those runs where the forecast is just stubbornly poor.

We start off Wednesday, August 5th, with a messy combo. A weak 4ft swell from the southeast, but with a terrible short period of 5 seconds, so there’s no punch at all. The combined energy is a measly 77 – barely a whisper – and we’ve got a south wind blowing cross-onshore at 9 mph, making it choppy. By the afternoon, the wind picks up to 16 mph, and the waves drop to 2ft. It’s just not worth paddling out.

That sets the tone for the next week and a half. Thursday the 6th through Monday the 10th, the swell never gets above 3ft, the period stays under 8 seconds, and the wind is stuck in the SSE to SSW range, keeping it cross-onshore or cross-shore and messy. The combined energy figures are in the teens and twenties – very weak. There’s a brief moment on the morning of Tuesday the 11th where the wind turns light and cross-offshore from the WSW, cleaning things up, but the swell is a pathetic 2ft with a 4-second period. It’s flat, Rusty, not surfable.

The pattern repeats: a few mornings of clean conditions from the offshore wind (the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th), but the swell is still tiny, rarely reaching 3ft, and period is short. There’s just no energy. The afternoon winds swing onshore and chop it all up again.

Finally, we get a flicker of life on Sunday, August 16th. The morning stays clean with a light offshore breeze from the WNW, but the swell is only 2ft. Then the afternoon brings a bit better: a 3ft SSE swell at 7 seconds, with a glassy, clean cross-offshore wind from the north at 6 mph. The combined energy jumps to 127 – moderate – and the report says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” It’s the best of a bad lot, but it’s still small and short-period. It’s a 1 out of 10, and that’s the high point.

Monday the 17th afternoon sees a 4ft SSE swell with a slightly better 8-second period, but the wind is cross-shore from the NE, and the notes say “marginal.” The energy is 234, which is decent, but the wind is wrong. After that, it’s back to the same onshore slop through the 20th.

Bottom line: there’s no good surf on offer here. The whole 16 days is a bust. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so no surprises there. For a beginner spot like Tybee Pier, you’d want clean, small waves, but we’re not getting the clean part. Honestly, with the persistent SE wind and small, choppy surf, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Hang tight, check back later. Rusty out.

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