Alexandra Headland Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve got to be straight with you – the next 16 days at Alexandra Headland are a tough watch. There’s not a single standout session in the whole run. We’ve got a bit of swell here and there, but the conditions are just ordinary, and nothing really comes together. Let’s walk through it.

We start on Tuesday, 25 August with a small 3ft ENE swell at 8 seconds, but a light onshore breeze and weak energy (114) makes for poor surf. Wednesday morning, 26 August, the swell drops to 3ft ENE, energy falls to 99, but at least we get a light cross-offshore wind. It’s clean, but tiny and weak – surfable but very ordinary. That’s about as good as it gets for a while.

Thursday 27 August and Friday 28 August see a similar story: small E swells around 2-3ft with short 7-8 second periods and moderate cross-offshore winds. The energy bounces between 97 and 123 – weak to moderate – but the wave quality is still poor. Saturday 29 August is worse, with the swell dropping to 2ft E and energy down to 74. Sunday 30 August sees a bump in size to 5-6ft SE, but it’s choppy windswell with a period of just 6 seconds, and moderate cross-offshore wind still can’t clean it up. The energy climbs to 252-281, but the waves are poor – messy and unruly.

Monday 31 August holds 5ft SE swell at 6 seconds, with a moderate cross-shore and a cross-chop. It’s a write-off. Looking ahead, Tuesday 1 September offers a 4ft ESE swell with glassy conditions and a light offshore, but it’s still on the small side with short period (6 seconds). The energy is moderate at 174, but the waves are only surfable in a very ordinary way. Wednesday 2 September has a tiny 3ft ENE swell with a longer 9-second period and glassy morning conditions, but the energy is moderate (144) and it’s barely enough for a proper wave. By Thursday 3 September, we’re down to 2ft E swell, and Friday 4 September sees a 1ft SE swell with an incredible 21-second period – that’s a very long period groundswell, but it’s too small to do much. The energy is moderate at 139. After that, the surf fades away completely into the second week, with tiny 1-1ft swells and onshore winds through to Monday 8 September. By Tuesday 9 September, a weak 4-5ft NNE swell shows up, but it’s cross-onshore and choppy, so forget about it.

Water temperature on the first morning is 68°, which is about 2° cooler than average for this time of year – a bit colder than normal.

Honestly, for the entire 16-day window, there are no quality sessions. If you’re a true local, you might get a few grovelly waves on a longboard during the glassy windows on 1 September or 2 September, but it’s nothing to get excited about. For the kite surfers, the bigger, windier days on 30-31 August might look more interesting than paddle surfing.

This is one of those stretches where the forecasts can change, so don’t write it off completely, but right now, it’s flat and average.

Rusty.

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