Ammonias Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right. Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ over the next couple weeks.

Forecast for Ammonias, a reef setup. Early on, we’re stuck in a pretty grim run. From Sunday 30 August right through to Thursday 11 September, the conditions are just not coming together. It’s a long stretch of poor surf quality. You’ve got a moderate breeze blowing cross-shore or cross-onshore, and a cross-chop or lumpy sea state for almost every session. The combined wave energy is moderate for much of that time (for example 729 on the Sunday morning), but the winds ruin it.

A couple of days do show a small window of something better. Wednesday morning 9 September sees the swell pushing up around 8ft from ENE with a period of 10 seconds, and gentle cross-onshore winds keeping it only fairly choppy. The afternoon then improves to 10ft ENE swell, with a gentle cross-shore breeze and only slight cross-chop. Combined energy jumps to 1962, which is strong. This is the best looking stretch of the whole forecast. It’s big – over 8ft – so this is expert territory only. Not for beginners. The swell direction of ENE doesn’t match the optimum SSE direction for this break, so the waves won’t be perfectly groomed, but the size and lack of strong wind make it the standout.

Then Thursday 10 September morning offers a brief moment of interest: the wind goes light and offshore from the SSE at 10 km/h (6 mph) on an 8ft ENE swell. That’s clean face potential, but the period is only 9 seconds so it’s a bit short and fat. Still, a morning of clean 8ft is worth a look for the experienced crew. Crowds are possible here, so go early.

After that, it drops right off again. Saturday 12 September sees tiny 2ft–2ft SSW swells and moderate cross-onshore chop. The final days are weak or messy. Monday 14 September has a super long period SSW groundswell at 21 seconds but only 1ft – barely a ripple. Not worth paddling out for.

Overall, the first week and a half is a write-off. The real play is Wednesday afternoon 9 September and the Thursday morning 10 September. The rest is a bust.

- Rusty

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