Hobe Sound Public Beach • Statistics for July

July: Choppy, Messy Mid-Summer Slop

July is the most challenging month for surf consistency at Hobe Sound. The average swell height stays at 2ft (0.6m) and the period drops to the annual low of 6.2s, which by the standard scale falls squarely into the 'choppy, low, messy' column. Swell from the ESE (34.9 percent) and E (26.4 percent) dominates, but those directions are not the ideal NE/ENE window, and the wave heights are overwhelmingly in the 0-2ft (0-0.6m) classes. The wind pattern is equally uncooperative: SSE, SE and ESE winds combine for more than 45 percent of the wind rose, keeping the surf onshore almost all day. Ideal offshore flow from the western quadrants is available just 14 percent of the time. Water temperature peaks at 28.2°C, air temps at 28.0°C, and the daily shower regime adds instability. If you can find an early glassy morning with a small tropical swell pushing in from the southeast, you might snag a fun waist-high wave, but expect the air-con, not the surf, to be the main draw.