Bali Bay (Glen Reef) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the next 16 days for Bali Bay (Glen Reef). Let’s get straight into it.

The water’s sitting at 57°, which is a bit colder than we usually get this time of year – a fair bit cooler than normal, so maybe grab a thicker suit if you’ve got one.

The first real standout is Saturday morning, the 29th of August. We’ve got a solid 5ft swell rolling in from the WSW, with a 14-second period – that’s proper groundswell with some real energy behind it. The combined energy’s sitting at 1086 (moderate, but with a nice punch), and the wind is a light SE breeze, coming cross-offshore. That’s going to keep the surface clean and lined up. The rating’s decent, and it’s a very consistent reef break, so this is the pick of the early period. The crowd situation is sometimes, so you might have a few others out, but nothing too crazy.

The swell picks up a lot through Sunday and Monday, but the wind turns cross and cross-on, and the forecast gets obviously choppy and messy. The quality drops, so I’d steer clear.

Wednesday morning, the 2nd of September, brings a solid 10ft swell from the SW with a 14-second period. That’s a lot of energy (3488) – real strong. But that’s expert territory at that size, especially on a reef. Winds are a gentle cross-shore, so it’s not totally blown out, but it’s a big, powerful wave. Crowd factor is sometimes, so only the brave will be out.

There is a big gap of poor conditions from Thursday the 3rd through to Friday the 4th, with strong winds and small, messy swell. Not worth paddling out.

Then we get a really nice little window on Saturday morning, the 5th of September. The swell drops to 3ft from the SSW, weak energy (600), but the wind goes glassy – literally no wind. The forecast says “expect very good surf conditions,” and for a reef break, that’s a clean, fun morning. Small, but perfect for a longboard.

The second week has a few more promising bits. Saturday the 12th of September has a 7ft swell from the WSW with a 14-second period, but winds are light cross-on, and by Sunday the 13th, the swell is 12ft from the SW with a 12-second period (3115 energy). That is *too big* for this break – the forecast says it’s wind and tide favorable, but the swell is predicted to be too big for this break. Save that for the experts.

Overall, the best windows are Saturday morning the 29th of August for the clean, 5ft groundswell, and Saturday morning the 5th of September for the glassy, small conditions. The big stuff is for the pros only.

Rusty.

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