Anse Bougainville Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, I'm Rusty. Let's have a chat about what's on offer at Anse Bougainville over the next 16 days.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – this stretch looks like a write-off for quality surf. The swell is hanging around in the 5 ft to 8 ft range, mostly from the south and south-southeast, but the bloody wind is relentless. It's blowing onshore or cross-onshore for the entire forecast period, starting at 12 mph and cranking up to 22 mph by the third week. That's a fresh breeze, and it's gonna trash the surface.

The water temp is sitting at 80°, which is about average for the time of year, so no surprises there.

Now, let's walk through it. Thursday the 9th kicks off with 5 ft to 5 ft swell from the south, but with a moderate SSE breeze at 12 mph slapping it onshore, it's just poor surf conditions. The combined energy is moderate (741), but it doesn't matter when the wind is that messy. This keeps up through Friday the 10th – the swell bumps to 6 ft from the SSE, but the wind goes cross-onshore, making it choppy and marginal at best. The afternoon session on Friday gets a score of 1 out of 10, which is the highest rating in the entire outlook, and that's not saying much.

Saturday and Sunday, the 11th and 12th, drop a bit in size to 4 ft, but the wind stays onshore at 12 mph. The wave energy is weak to moderate (533 to 582), and the swell period is 10 seconds, which is average. Still, it's all just poor.

From Monday the 13th, the wind starts to howl. It hits 16 mph and then 19 mph from the 15th onwards, with a risk of thunderstorms on Monday afternoon. The swell gets bigger – 7 ft to 8 ft from the 15th to the 20th – but that's not a good thing here. The combined energy climbs into the strong range, hitting 1076 on the 19th and 1153 on the 20th, but with a fresh breeze blowing onshore at 19 to 22 mph, the surface will be a washing machine. Those 8 ft waves are way too big for beginners, and the wind makes it only for experts who don't mind a beating.

The second week doesn't get any better. From the 21st to the 24th, the swell sticks around 6 ft to 8 ft, and the wind is still a fresh breeze onshore. The period is 10 seconds, so it's a mix of windswell and groundswell, but it's all blown out. The energy stays moderate to strong (838 to 1064), but it's wasted.

This break is a reef setup, exposed to the swell, and it's consistent. The optimum swell direction is from the southeast, and we're getting some of that, but the wind direction is all wrong. It's a classic case of a spot that works when the wind plays nice, but it's not playing at all here. The crowds are sometimes a factor, but they won't be an issue when it's this crap.

Honestly, there's not a single standout in this whole 16-day window. The best you can hope for is a marginal session on Friday afternoon, but even that's a stretch. With the wind forecast, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. It's a blank run, and for this area, that's a bit of a rarity – it tends not to stay this poor for long, so forecasts can change. But for now, I'd leave the board at home.

Rusty

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