Aileen's Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's take a look at what's on the menu for the next couple of weeks. Straight off the bat, this is shaping up to be a real dry spell for anyone looking to paddle out. We're only looking at Aileen's here, a spot that demands a lot of things to be just right. For the vast majority of the forecast, the wind and wave quality are just not cooperating. There's a long stretch of days with nothing worth mentioning, but there is one brief window that might just be worth marking on the calendar.

We start off with a blank. From Wednesday the 19th of August right through the rest of the month, it's almost all cross-shore, onshore, or just messy winds putting a chop on the swell. Even when there's some size, like the 6.6ft to 6.9ft of west swell midweek, it's arriving with a fresh breeze right on it, and the combined swell energy is a moderate but messy 710. Not the kind of stuff you paddle out for. Later in the month, from the 30th of August, a big pulse of west swell hits with a period of 12 seconds, pushing the combined energy into a very strong 5469, but with wave heights over 13ft and a fresh to strong cross-onshore wind, it's just too big and blown out. That's expert-only territory, and even then, it won't be any fun.

The only real standout, the only time the stars even try to align, comes on Tuesday the 25th of August. The morning session is your best bet. We'll have a clean 5.6ft swell from the WSW, with a 10-second period and a moderate combined energy of 518. The wind is a light, cross-offshore breeze from the SE, which will groom the wave faces nicely. This is a reef break that loves a WSW swell direction, which is spot on for what it needs. It's labelled as 'clean' conditions, so that's the one to aim for. The afternoon of that day gets lighter and more cross-shore though, so get out there early.

But here's the thing: Aileen's is known to be inconsistent. It's an advanced, exposed reef, meaning it only fires when everything lines up perfectly, and often it just sits there. So this long stretch of poor surf isn't a huge surprise. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, so no unusual cold or warm patches to worry about.

In the second week, don't build up any hope for the first few days of September. That big swell drops off, but the wind stays messy, with strong breezes and lumpy cross-chop through the 2nd and 3rd of September. There's no second chance at good surf coming. That Tuesday the 25th of August morning window is the one.

Stay safe out there.

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