Back Strands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming up for Back Strands. This is a reef setup, fairly exposed to the swell, and it’s calling for a west-northwest swell direction to really fire things up. Water temps are sitting about average for the time of year, nothing unusual there.

Right now, and for the next several days, it’s pretty grim. We’ve got a run of poor surf conditions starting from Sunday 5 July right through to Friday 10 July. Swell’s hanging around 4ft down to 2ft out of the west, but the wind’s all over the shop – cross-shore, cross-onshore, and onshore – keeping things choppy and messy. Energy’s moderate at best (215 down to 59), and the wave quality is just not there. No recommendations here at all.

Then we roll into Saturday 11 July through to Tuesday 14 July. Still not great. The swell drops further, under 3ft, and even though we get a few windows of cleaner conditions – like Monday 13 July afternoon and Tuesday 14 July morning with glassy or cross-off winds – the waves are small and ordinary. Energy’s weak (113 down to 43). It’s surfable if you’re desperate, but nothing to write home about.

Wednesday 15 July to Sunday 19 July brings a bit more size pushing back in, but the wind turns nasty – fresh cross-onshore and onshore, with some rain and lumpy conditions. Swell’s around 3ft to 3ft, but energy climbs back into moderate range (234 on Saturday 18 July). Problem is the wind’s rubbish, so the sets are wrecked. Not worth paddling out for.

The standout? Honestly, there’s no true standout in the 16-day window. The best of a bad bunch is Saturday 18 July morning – we’ve got a 3ft west-northwest swell with a long 11-second period, and combined energy hits 234 (moderate). Wind is cross-shore from the west-southwest at 15 km/h, which is just okay. But with that long period and a west-northwest direction, it could offer some shape at this reef if the wind holds. Still, crowds are possible here (sometimes), so don’t expect solitude. It’s a maybe, not a guarantee.

For the rest of the run, it’s a long gap of poor-to-ordinary surf. Not much on the table. The reef setup and moderate energy might get the kitesurfers interested when the wind’s strong, but for paddle surfing, it’s a tough outlook. We’ve got a few cleaner moments in the second week, but they’re small and uncertain.

Rusty.

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