Alexandra Headland Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve scanned the charts for Alexandra Headland, and I’ve got to be straight with you – it’s a tough run ahead. The whole 16-day window is a write-off, basically no decent surf on the cards. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak energy and messy winds that just won’t line up right.

The forecast kicks off with a few days of nothing doing. Saturday the 29th of August sees a tiny 2 ft swell from the east with a weak 71 combined energy, and a cross-off SSE breeze at 12 mph that keeps the surface clean but there’s just no push. Sunday the 30th bumps up a bit with a 6 ft SE swell, and the combined energy jumps to a moderate 314 – that’s got some weight behind it – but the wind is cross-off at 16 mph, and the period is a short 7 seconds, making for lumpy, unorganised walls. It’s messy and the data calls it poor surf conditions.

Monday the 31st drops back to 3 ft SE swell at 102 energy, with a light S breeze turning cross-off, which keeps it clean, but the period is still a weak 6 seconds. No juice. The first week is pretty much a dead loss.

Into the first week of September, and it's tiny. Tuesday the 1st has a 2 ft east swell with a period of 10 seconds – that’s got a bit of groundswell character, but the combined energy is only 95, barely a ripple. The morning has a light SSE breeze and it’s clean, earning a 1/10 for “surfable but very ordinary.” Not worth suiting up for.

From Wednesday the 2nd all the way through to Saturday the 13th of September, we’re looking at waves between 0.9 ft and 5 ft, with the bigger end towards the tail of the forecast. The combined energy flirts with triple digits a few times, like on the afternoon of the 11th of September hitting 106, and the 12th of September morning at 97, but the winds are mostly cross-on or onshore, and the swell periods are short or messy. The Sunday the 13th of September afternoon has a 5 ft ESE swell, 193 combined energy, and a light cross-on breeze, but the period is a weak 6 seconds and the conditions are called poor.

The only highlight, and it’s a sad one, is the morning of Tuesday the 1st of September and the morning of Saturday the 12th of September, where the conditions are just “surfable but ordinary.” If you’re desperate for a paddle, that might be your window, but don’t expect anything to get your heart racing.

For the record, the water temp at Alexandra Headland is sitting at 69°F, which is 2°F cooler than average for this time of year – basically normal, nothing to write home about.

Honestly, this is a blank run. This area can go quiet like this, and it’s not unusual to have a week or more of small, wind-affected slop. The forecasts can change, but for now, I’d hang the wettie up for a bit and go do something else.

Rusty.

Read more