3rd St Surf Report & Ideal Conditions
See your personalized forecast for 3rd St
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Download LazySurfer →Best conditions for 3rd St
3rd St is most often good on a 0–2 ft short-period (under 8s) swell from the E, with light wind from the N, on a high incoming tide — the conditions LazySurfer surfers have logged and rated highest across the surrounding region.
| Ideal wave height | 0–2 ft |
| Ideal period | short-period (under 8s) |
| Best swell direction | E |
| Best wind | light wind from the N |
| Best tide | high & incoming |
These best-conditions estimates come from real sessions LazySurfer users rated highly at this break — not an editorial guess (high-confidence read). In the app, LazySurfer's custom deep-learning model predicts your own 1–5★ rating at about 90% exact-match accuracy (97.6% within one star). How LazySurfer works →
Current conditions
Latest reading from the nearest NOAA buoys (UTC 2026-08-26 10:00 UTC). LazySurfer reads this same public NDBC data directly — no proprietary smoothing. New to buoy data? See how to read a NOAA buoy.
| Wave height | 1.6 ft |
| Dominant period | 11s |
| Swell direction | E (91°) |
| Wave buoy | NDBC station 44056 (12 mi away) |
| Wind | 5 kt from the ESE — NDBC DUKN7 (11 mi away) |
3rd St 7-day surf forecast
Model wave & wind outlook for 3rd St from NOAA's GEFS-Wave model, refreshed daily. Heights are open-water swell (face heights at the break are typically larger).
| Day | Swell height | Period & direction | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed Aug 26 | 1–2 ft | 9s E | 16 kt SE |
| Thu Aug 27 | 2–3 ft | 9s E | 15 kt SSW |
| Fri Aug 28 | 2 ft | 8s E | 15 kt SW |
| Sat Aug 29 | 1–2 ft | 8s E | 9 kt N |
| Sun Aug 30 | 1–2 ft | 9s E | 9 kt ENE |
| Mon Aug 31 | 1–2 ft | 7s ESE | 15 kt SSW |
| Tue Sep 1 | 1–2 ft | 9s ESE | 15 kt WSW |
Tide
Predicted tide for the next two days from NOAA station 8651370 (DUCK PIER), the nearest tide station (11 mi away). Times local.
- 2026-06-06 06:12 — Low 0.291 ft
- 2026-06-06 12:16 — High 2.716 ft
- 2026-06-06 18:19 — Low 0.671 ft
- 2026-06-07 00:24 — High 3.074 ft
- 2026-06-07 06:55 — Low 0.255 ft
- 2026-06-07 13:03 — High 2.85 ft
Frequently asked
Is 3rd St working right now?
As of the latest buoy reading (2026-08-26 10:00 UTC), 3rd St is fair: the live 0–2 ft medium-period swell from the E matches its ideal E direction and is in its ideal size range, and the wind is light from the SE.
Is 3rd St good for beginners?
3rd St tends to suit beginners at its best — the sweet spot here is small 0–2 ft surf, the most forgiving size to learn on. Conditions change daily, so always check the live report on this page before paddling out.
What's the best tide for 3rd St?
3rd St tends to be best on a high incoming tide — the tide stage LazySurfer surfers have rated highest here. Tide changes how the swell breaks, so check the two-day tide chart on this page for today's high and low times.
What swell direction is best for 3rd St?
The best swell direction for 3rd St is from the east (E). Swell arriving from the east lines up best with how this break faces, which is when LazySurfer surfers have rated it highest.
What's the best wind for 3rd St?
3rd St is most often good with light wind from the north (N) — the wind LazySurfer surfers logged on their best-rated sessions here. Wind direction grooms or chops the wave face, so check the live report for current wind.
Where does LazySurfer's surf data for 3rd St come from?
LazySurfer reads public data directly from NOAA's National Data Buoy Center and the National Weather Service — the nearest NDBC wave buoy (station 44056) and the nearest NOAA tide station (DUCK PIER). The same raw readings NOAA publishes, with no proprietary smoothing.
Does LazySurfer predict whether 3rd St is good for me?
Yes. LazySurfer trains a custom deep-learning model — a PyTorch neural network with per-user embeddings, retrained weekly on real logged surf sessions from the LazySurfer community — to predict the 1-to-5 star rating you personally would give, rather than a single average rating for everyone.
Nearby spots
- 1st St — 0 mi
- Avalon Pier — 1 mi
- Bath House — 1 mi
- Old Station Laundromats — 3 mi
- Abalone St — 4 mi
More North Carolina surf: best surf spots for beginners in North Carolina · best surf spots in North Carolina
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