Back Strands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's get straight into it, looking at what's on the cards for Back Strands.

Mate, to be brutally honest, the next couple of weeks are looking tough for a proper paddle. We’ve got a solid stretch of poor conditions ahead. We kick off this Tuesday the 18th with a fresh cross-onshore wind at 19 mph, and while there’s a 5ft swell bumping around from the west, the whole setup is lumpy and messy. That combined wave energy is moderate (249 on Tuesday morning, climbing to 486 by the afternoon), but with that onshore wind, it’s not doing us any favours. The water temp is sitting at 62°F which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year, but you won't be feeling it with that wind in your face.

This grim pattern pretty much sticks through the rest of the week and into the weekend. Wednesday the 19th sees a 6ft west swell but it's crossed up with fresh onshore winds. The energy hits 612, which is solid, but the quality is just not there. Thursday and Friday drop off in size, down to under 3ft, and the wind keeps blowing onshore. The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd is tiny, with swell barely scraping 2ft and the energy dropping to just 24. It's not going to be worth getting wet.

We do get a little flicker of hope around Monday the 24th. The swell is only 0.7ft to 2ft, but for the first time, we see a clean, offshore wind from the SE. It's small and weak, but at least it's clean. That clean trend continues on Tuesday the 25th with some fresh offshore winds from the SSE at 19 to 22 mph, but again, the swell is small at 2ft to 2ft. The energy is only 62, so you're looking for small peelers, not power.

The best chance we get in this whole outlook is Thursday morning the 27th of August. The swell bumps up a bit to 3ft from the WNW with a 9-second period, and we get a gentle offshore breeze from the ESE at 9 mph. The wave energy is moderate at 120, and the conditions are called "clean". It's not a world-class day, but compared to the rest of this run, it's the standout window for a session on a longboard or a funboard. It's the only day in the whole forecast that gets a score of 1 out of 10, which tells you how rough the rest of it is.

After that, it gets ugly again. Friday the 28th brings a gale-force cross-onshore wind at 40 mph, completely blowing everything out. Then we roll into a proper blank run from the 29th of August all the way through to the end of the period. There's a couple of days around the 30th and 31st where the swell picks back up to 3ft, but it's onshore and messy. Then the first of September throws in a 6ft to 7ft swell with onshore winds at 19 mph – that's a kite surfer's playground, not a paddle surfer's. With that kind of size and wind, it's just a messy, lumpy battlefield.

So, bottom line: if you're keen, target Thursday morning the 27th. It's the only clean, surfable window. Otherwise, it's a long wait.

Stay tuned, forecasts can change.
Rusty.

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