Back Strands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what we've got coming down the line for Back Strands. It's a reef setup, fairly consistent, and it's feeling the swell from the west. The water temp is sitting at 62°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – nothing crazy, but it's nice.

Honestly, the next week or so is a bit of a write-off. We’ve got a long stretch of tiny, weak, and messy conditions starting from Tuesday the 25th of August. That morning there's a little 3ft swell from the west, but with a short 10-second period and a cross-off wind, it's just not got any punch. The energy is barely registering at 118, and the report calls it poor surf. It's flat and frustrating from there right through until Saturday the 30th – nothing but small, choppy junk with onshore winds. You could sit out there for an hour and only see knee-high slop. Not worth the paddle out.

We finally see a pulse of real energy rolling in on Monday the 1st of September. Tuesday the 1st morning is the standout of the whole outlook. We’ve got a solid 8ft swell from the west, with a decent 10-second period. The combined energy jumps right up to 1060, which is proper strong. The wind is a clean cross-off from the south at 15 mph, which should groom it up nicely. That’s a proper winter swell for the experienced crew – at 8ft, it's big, powerful, and on a reef so it’s going to be walled up and hollow. The afternoon turns to junk with a strong cross-on, so your window is the morning session only.

After that, the rest of the first week of September looks lumpy and messy. The 7th of September has a massive 8ft swell, but with a strong onshore wind from the NNW, the wave energy is over 1200 but it's going to be a washing machine – for experts only, and even then, it's not going to be pretty on a reef with that wind.

The very last few days, the 8th and 9th of September, clean up a bit. The 9th of September morning shows a 3ft swell from the west with a very long period of 12 seconds – proper groundswell – and a light cross-off breeze. The energy is a moderate 224, so it'll have some push, but it's small. That long period might make it a bit too straight for a beach, but on this reef it could actually offer some clean, lined-up waves, though it's marginal.

Bottom line: the whole first week is a dud. The only day worth circling on the calendar is the morning of the 1st of September for a solid, powerful swell under clean offshore winds. The rest is mostly a waiting game.

Rusty

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