Ammonias Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s happening at Ammonias.

Honestly, it’s a tough stretch ahead. The entire sixteen-day window is looking like a write-off for any quality paddle surfing. The problem is persistent cross-shore and cross-onshore winds out of the east-northeast, never letting the surf clean up. The swell is either too small with poor direction, or when it does pick up size, it’s a short-period, wind-affected mess.

We start on Tuesday the 25th of August. There's a tiny 2ft SSW groundswell rolling in with a long 16-second period, carrying moderate wave energy (497). But with a 12 mph cross-shore wind, the comments say it all: “poor surf conditions.” Not worth a paddle. The water temp is 81°, which is about average for this time of year.

Wednesday the 26th sees a slight bump to 2ft, but that cross-onshore wind picks up to 16 mph, making things choppy. The wave energy climbs (605), but the quality isn’t there. Thursday the 27th offers the best-looking swell of the first week: 4ft from the south with a 17-second period, showing moderate energy (938). But those cross-shore winds just chop it up. It’s only “marginal” at best.

From Friday the 28th right through to the end of the first week, it’s a grind. Wave heights bounce around 3ft to 4ft, period drops, and the wind stays stubbornly bad. Rain showers on the weekend too. Not fun.

Then things get weird from Sunday the 30th through to the start of September. We see a pulse of short-period, 7-second wind swell out of the east-northeast, pushing 6ft to 6ft. This is a lot of energy for the conditions (up to 888), but with a period that short and wind on it, these are just lumpy, bumpy, crumbly waves. Not surfable in any meaningful way.

The first part of September is more of the same: 6ft to 7ft of short-period wind swell with cross-shore winds. By the 3rd and 4th of September, we’re looking at 7ft to 7ft from the east-northeast with a 8-second period. That’s a lot of water moving, but it’s all chop and no shape. The energy readings are strong (up to 936), but with the wind and period, this is only going to be for the hardcore, and honestly, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The only faint glimmer comes in the second week, starting Sunday the 6th of September. The swell period finally stretches out to 12 seconds from the east-northeast, with wave heights around 6ft to 6ft. The energy jumps drastically (1859), indicating a strong groundswell. But the wind is still cross-onshore at 16 mph with risk of thunderstorms. Then on Monday the 7th, a long-period 4ft from the south with an 18-second period shows up, carrying huge energy (1477). But once again, that east-northeast cross wind ruins the party. By Tuesday the 8th, the wind even freshens to 19 mph, making it lumpy.

So, there’s no standout here. No day to get excited about. The wind never cooperates long enough to let any of the building swell present itself cleanly. If you’re desperate, the most promising window is the 6th and 7th of September, but you’d be gambling on a thunderstorm and an onshore wind. I’d wait for the next forecast.

Rusty.

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