Wrightsville Beach Surf Outlook: August 21 – August 27, 2026

August 21, 2026

Wrightsville Beach Surf Outlook: August 21 – August 27, 2026

Issued 6:30 AM August 21. Note: Forecast based on early Friday morning (8/21) data. While broad patterns usually hold, forecast shifts occur—verify conditions before heading out.

Weekend: Small Scale Surf; Longboardable Early

Mon–Wed: Small ESE Swell

Later Week: No Significant Swell but Watching Tropics

Best Windows of Forecast: Early to Mid Next Week but Keep Expectations Low

Legend: 🟢 Clean | 🟡 Fair/Semi Bumpy | 🔴 Poor/Choppy

(Note: Split quality colors represent AM / PM sessions)

Friday Through Sunday (8/21–8/23): Morning Longboard Waves at Best

Small and glassy SE swell is reaching the area this morning, checking in around knee high with light SW winds. We are heading toward a ~9:00 AM low tide, so the morning window through around 11:30 AM is the best time to target before rising water swamps many spots out and SSE winds pick up to add texture and bump through the afternoon.

Unfortunately, no significant changes are expected this weekend. Look for mostly 0.5–1.5‘ surf (shin to knee high) with slightly bigger sets at top spots. Winds will be light S on Saturday morning before picking up in the afternoon alongside increasing chop and increasing storm chances. Sunday will see a bit more offshore flow in the morning ahead of a weak front, followed by a period of SSW winds and bumpier conditions in the afternoon/early evening.

Tide Timing: Tides will be low around 10:00 AM Saturday and 10:40 AM Sunday. Given the winds, the best conditions will fall within roughly two hours on either side of the morning low (outside of a few select high-tide breaks). Note that many spots will look flat during the later afternoon high tides all weekend.

Monday Through Thursday (8/24–8/27): Small ESE Swell / S Windswell Mix

Wave model guidance is showing a slight uptick in mid-period ESE swell early to mid next week as low pressure ESE of Bermuda interacts with high pressure to its north. However, it does not look quite as pronounced as what we saw earlier this week. Expect surf to settle in the knee up to thigh high zone (1–2′ +) as the ESE swell mixes with local S windswell, topping out around Tuesday/Wednesday.

While the cleanest surface conditions will remain in the early mornings through the middle of the week, we will see a return to early morning high tides. Low tides will shift toward lunchtime, so a late morning to early afternoon window early in the week will be worth eyeing before the afternoon sea breeze gets on it.

🌀 Tropical Update

The National Hurricane Center is giving the low pressure system a few hundred miles ESE of Bermuda a low chance (20%) of development through 7 days. While we will likely see a small-scale ESE swell trickle from this early to mid next week, most of the stronger fetch is oriented toward points well north of our swell window. Still, it is worth watching over the next few days.