Zero Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your board. It’s Rusty here, and I’ve been staring at the charts for the next couple of weeks. Let’s be straight with each other – we’re looking at a long stretch of very small, very ordinary surf. The energy is there, but it’s weak, and the quality is just not matching up for paddle surfing. The best we can say is that the waiting game is on.

The first real chance to get wet doesn’t come until the very end of the first week. We’ve got a long gap of nothing to write home about. By Thursday, 28 August, things start to look a little more interesting. The swell is still tiny, but the energy is starting to build. The real standout, if you can call it that, is Zero. It’s a point break, so it needs a specific direction, and the optimum swell here is from the SSW. It’s a rare-breaks spot, so don’t get your hopes up too high, but when it’s on, it’s on.

For the Thursday 28 August afternoon session, the swell is a weak 2 ft from the SSW with a long period of 19 seconds. That’s proper groundswell, which is good for shape, though it might fold a bit straight at the wrong spots. The wind is a clean offshore WNW breeze at 9 mph, which will keep the faces tidy. The combined energy is moderate, reading 515 in the afternoon. The water temp is about average for the time of year, so no need to dig out the 5/4.

Friday 29 August is the best on offer. The morning sees a bump in swell to 3 ft from the SSW, period 17 seconds. The wind is a light cross-shore from the W at 9 mph, which is workable, but the afternoon is even cleaner with the WNW cross-off breeze at 12 mph. The combined energy hits 698 in the afternoon, which is the strongest we’ll see in the whole window. This is about as good as it gets for this stretch. It’s small, but it’s clean. Crowds are possible at Zero, so be ready for company.

After that, we slide back into marginal conditions through the first week of September. The swell drops back to 2 ft to 2 ft, and the energy fades. The wind is mostly cross-off or light, but the swell is too small and weak to get excited about. The scores are low across the board. If you’re a kiter, this setup might be more interesting than for a paddle surfer, especially with the consistent cross-off winds.

So, to sum it up: this is a waiting period. The best bet is the end of August, specifically Friday 29 August, with 3 ft of clean, long-period SSW groundswell at Zero. Everything else is a scratch. It tends not to stay this poor for long, so keep an eye on the charts.

Rusty.

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