Ammonias Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer at Ammonias. It’s a reef setup, and it’s a bit of a waiting game over the next couple of weeks. The pattern is a slow start, a few windows of marginal fun, and then a jump in size that comes with messy wind.

Right now, through the first week, the wind is a problem. We’ve got a persistent ENE breeze, swinging from cross to cross-on, and it’s keeping things choppy and lumpy. The swell is a short-period ENE windswell, mostly between 4ft and 6ft, with combined energy readings in the moderate range (338 to 865). The best of the early days is Monday morning, 3rd August, with 6ft of ENE swell and a moderate cross-shore wind. The quality is marginal, but it’s the most shape you’ll see until the pattern shifts. The water’s sitting at 80°F, which is right on the money for this time of year.

The real shift happens in the second week, around the 10th of August. We get a couple of pulses of long-period SSW groundswell rolling in. On Monday afternoon, 10th August, we’ve got 3ft of SSW swell with a period of 15 seconds, pushing combined energy to 515. The wind is still cross, so it’s not clean, but that long period holds promise. The standouts are a couple of days later: Wednesday the 12th and Thursday the 13th of August. The swell ticks up to 4ft – 4ft from the S, with a period of 15-18 seconds. The combined energy jumps into the strong range (1137 to 1258). The wind is still cross-on, making it a lumpy affair, but the energy is there. For a reef setup, that long-period S swell is what you want to see. It’s not perfect, but it’s the most interesting offering in the whole window.

The last few days, from the 14th onward, the swell gets bigger again, pushing 7ft to 8ft from the ENE, but the wind is blowing fresh, 15-18 mph, cross to cross-on. That’s a recipe for messy, lumpy conditions. The combined energy hits over 1000 (strong), but without clean wind, it’s going to be a battle. Too much size for beginners, and even for the experienced crew, it’s going to be a grunt.

So, to be straight with you: the best bet is that window around the 12th and 13th of August. The S groundswell is the standout, with serious energy. It’s not a classic day, but it’s the best you’ll get. The rest of the time, you’re wrestling with wind.

Rusty.

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