Wilderness Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let me tell you straight up: this is a dead stretch for Wilderness. I’m looking at the whole 16-day window and there’s just nothing happening. The guidance says it’s a fairly consistent spot, so it doesn’t usually stay this flat for this long, but right now we’re in a run of no real surf. The energy is weak across the board—the combined swell energy readings are all in the low double digits or single digits, like 78 (weak) on the first Saturday morning, and then dropping to 45, 14, 17, all the way down to 0 and 3 later on. Nothing’s breaking above a poor surf quality rating.

The first few days have a little swell on the charts, but it’s barely a pulse. Saturday morning the 25th of July has a 2.6 ft NE swell at 8 seconds—short period, no push. The wind is a cross-off from the ENE at 15 mph, which keeps it clean, but the wave is flat and weak. The water temp is 84°, about 1.3° warmer than average, so it’s normal for the time of year, but that’s about the only thing going for it. That afternoon and all through Sunday the swell drops even more.

There’s a couple of glassy mornings on the 27th and 28th with 1.3 ft NE swell, but the period is 7 or 8 seconds and the combined energy is 17 and 16 (weak). It’s just not enough to ride. Even when the wind turns offshore on the 29th and 30th, the swell is still tiny—1.6 ft to 2.0 ft—and the period is 6 to 8 seconds. The energy stays below 50 (weak) all the way.

The only stand-out in the whole run, if you can call it that, is a brief appearance of a very long period swell on the 4th of August (Tuesday morning). There’s a 0.3 ft NE swell with a period of 14 seconds—that’s a groundswell pulse, but it’s so small you wouldn’t even get a ripple. Combined energy is 8 (weak). The wind is cross-off from the ENE at 15 mph, but no size to work with. The next day, the 5th, has a 1.3 ft NE swell at 4 seconds—just a windswell bump—and then it’s back to near zero.

For the whole 16 days, the best is just a clean, small, glassy morning, but with no real waves. This is a blank run. If you’re a kite surfer, the moderate cross-off winds on the 30th and 31st of July might give you something, but for paddle surfing, it’s a no-go. The forecasts can change, but right now, put the board away.

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