Back Strands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let me tell you about the waves over the next couple of weeks at Back Strands. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but we will slog through it together. Honestly, the first week is pretty average, but things might just turn around in the second week if we’re lucky.

The forecast kicks off Tuesday the 25th with tiny, weak surf. We’re looking at a 3ft West swell but with only a 10-second period, so it's struggling. The cross-off wind from the ESE is okay, but there's just not enough grunt – the wave energy is only 118, so it’s pretty weak. The water temp is about average for this time of year, nothing wild to report there. This pattern of poor surf holds for a while. Wednesday the 26th is even smaller, dropping to 1ft, and the energy plummets to 19. Thursday the 27th is a bit better with a 2ft swell but it’s still poor. By Friday the 28th, wind swings onshore from the WNW, making it messy. Saturday the 29th is a write-off with tiny 0.7ft waves and a cross-chop.

Now, there’s a tiny glimmer on Sunday the 30th – the swell bumps up to 3ft from the West, with a moderate energy reading of 127. The morning looks clean with a cross-off breeze from the South. It’s still only 3ft though, so don’t get too excited. But that afternoon, it gets lumpy again.

Then things get hectic. Monday the 31st sees a big jump in size – an 12ft West swell with a massive 3129 wave energy reading. That is strong, but the wind is howling onshore from the West at 22 mph, making it lumpy and dangerous. This is expert-only territory. That big swell hangs around Tuesday September 1st (10ft) and Wednesday September 2nd (4ft), but the wind is still nasty, blowing cross-shore or cross-on at 19-28 mph, creating a real mess. This setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing honestly.

We hit another lull after that. Thursday the 3rd through Saturday the 5th offers marginal conditions at best. The best of that lot is Friday the 5th morning – we get a 7ft West swell with an 11-second period (decent groundswell) and a clean cross-off wind from the ENE. The energy is 935, which is moderate to strong. That’s your only real standout in the whole period. It’s a Saturday, and crowds are sometimes an issue here, so expect a few others in the water. The 5ft afternoon is okay, but the period drops back.

After that, it’s back to poor surf right through to the end of the window on Wednesday the 9th. That Wednesday morning offers a 5ft West-Northwest swell with a light cross-off breeze, but the period is only 7 seconds, so the waves will be weak and crumbly. It’s surfable, but ordinary.

Overall, it's a pretty bleak run with a big, windy spike in the middle. The best bet is that clean Saturday morning on the 5th of September.

Rusty

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