Overview
28th St sits at the first groin south of Flagship, a sand-bottomed beach and jetty setup that can break both right and left. The groin is short, so on its own it usually isn't much of a surfing wave. Its real value is as a launch point: when a strong south-to-north current is running, it's a handy place to paddle out and work your way up to the south peak at Flagship. On the rare day when everything lines up it can light up, but the wave here is generally a poor one.
When It Works
The spot favours swell from the south and southeast, and it works from 0.3 m / 1 ft to 2.1 m / 7 ft, roughly waist high up to a few feet overhead. Spring and autumn are the productive stretches, with the better windows arriving in late summer and fall and again from late winter into mid-spring. Don't count on consistency; it only occasionally comes together.
Wind and Tide
The workable wind window is north, northwest, and west-northwest when there's swell in the water. It breaks best from mid tide to high tide, with a rising tide generally the better call.
Local Tips
It suits a wide range of surfers, from beginners through to experts, and it takes most boards well, whether you're on a shortboard, fish, funboard, or longboard. The lineup is usually fairly quiet with a somewhat reserved feel, though it can get busier in summer when local surf schools are out. Keep an eye out for less-skilled surfers around you, and note that staying in position gets tricky once it's breaking outside the jetty. Water quality is often less than ideal here, thanks to the nearby Houston shipping channel and runoff from Galveston.
Access
Getting in is easy, with paid parking right on the seawall.
