Ballina North Wall Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, this is Rusty. Let’s look at the next couple of weeks for the surf.

It’s a slow start, a few days of nothing, then a clean little window mid-week, followed by a huge swell that’s way too big for the spot. After that, it’s a long stretch of ordinary, crummy conditions with just a tiny blip of something clean at the very end.

First up, we’re talking about Ballina North Wall – a point and breakwater setup that needs a decent swell. Tuesday the 8th is a total waste, with onshore winds and messy, weak surf. Wednesday the 9th is where it gets a bit interesting. The morning brings a clean 5ft swell from the SSE, with a light cross-offshore breeze from the SW. The swell period is 9 seconds, so there’s a bit of push, and the wave energy is moderate. The water temp is around 69°F, pretty normal for the time of year. The waves will be clean and surfable, nothing crazy, but a good session for sure.

Now, Thursday the 10th is a monster, but not in a good way. The swell jumps to 12ft from the SSE, with a massive amount of energy. The wind is cross from the south at 30 mph, and the forecast says wind and tide are favourable, but the swell is just too big for this break. This is expert-only, and even then, it’ll be a mess. For the average surfer, it’s a day to watch from the beach.

After that, it’s a long, dry spell. From Friday the 11th all the way through to the 22nd, it’s poor surf. The swell hangs around, but it’s ruined by onshore winds, lumpy chop, and messy conditions. There’s a small window on Monday the 14th morning with a clean 3ft SSE swell and a light cross-offshore breeze, but the energy is weak. Not worth getting out of bed for. Then Tuesday the 15th has a glassy morning with a tiny 2ft SSE swell, barely breaking.

The best bet, if you can call it that, is Wednesday the 9th morning. That’s your cleanest, fun surf. The swell is 5ft from the SSE, the wind is light and cross-offshore, and the break will be clean. It’s not a huge day, but it’s the only real quality window in the whole 16 days.

The rest of the forecast is a long, boring run of onshore slop, choppy conditions, and small, weak swells. There’s a blip on the 23rd with a clean morning, but only 5ft from the NNE with a short 6-second period – it’ll be fat and weak. For the kiting crew, the big, windy days might be more interesting, but for a paddler, it’s slim pickings.

Rusty signing off.

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