Ammonias Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here, and I've got the scoop on the stretch ahead for one spot. Honestly, it's been a bit of a dry spell, and the story doesn't change much for a while. Ammonias is a reef setup, fairly consistent but it's been getting hammered by cross and cross-onshore winds, so the waves have been a choppy mess. The water temp is sitting at 80°, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year – nothing wild there.

The first couple of weeks are a real write-off. We're looking at a solid 10-day gap here where the surf is just plain poor, with scores of zero across the board. From Wednesday the 15th right through to almost the end of next week, the wind is mostly out of the east to east-northeast at 9 to 12 mph, all cross-on or cross-shore. The swell is small, mostly under 3 ft, and the energy is weak to moderate, with the combined energy reading between 70 and 938. It's just not worth paddling out for.

The first sign of life comes on Sunday the 19th of July. The afternoon shows a little spike with 5 ft swells from the east-northeast, but the period is a short 8 seconds, so it's not going to have any grunt. The energy is up to 528, but with 12 mph cross-shore winds, it's only a marginal call. The same goes for the following week – from Monday the 21st through to Sunday the 27th, the swell stays around 2 ft to 4 ft, but the period gets long, from 14 to 20 seconds, which is a groundswell. This is a double-edged sword. The energy is strong, hitting 657 to 1627, and the waves should have shape, but the cross-shore wind is still a problem, keeping things messy. The best of the bunch looks like Saturday the 25th afternoon and Sunday the 26th morning, with 2 ft to 3 ft swells from the south-southwest, very long period around 18 seconds, and lighter winds. The energy is massive, 1136 and 1627, but with the wind angle, it's still marginal. Crowds are often a thing here, so keep that in mind.

Then we get a bit of a shift. Moving into the following week, Monday the 28th and Tuesday the 29th, the swell size jumps to 6 ft to 7 ft, still from the east-northeast with a short 8-second period. The wind is howling out of the northeast at 12 to 19 mph, cross-shore, so it's fresh and lumpy. The energy is moderate, between 645 and 898. This is getting into the zone where it's more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer, to be honest. The waves will be there but the quality won't be for a traditional surf.

The 16-day window does have a couple of promising moments, but they are a long way off. The standout is the morning of Saturday the 26th of July. It's a Sunday by the time that rolls around, but it's the best mix of swell size, that very long period groundswell giving it shape, and the lightest wind we've seen. The combined energy is a massive 1627, so there's plenty of power, but the cross-shore wind on a reef like Ammonias will keep it from being a classic. It's promising, but not certain.

Rusty.

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