Ballina North Wall Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming our way for Ballina.

To be straight with you, the next week and a half is looking pretty tough. We’ve got a long stretch of nothing special, with mostly small, onshore, or messy conditions. The only real window of hope is a couple of days around Thursday the 18th and into Saturday the 19th, but even that comes with some serious size.

Ballina North Wall (Ballina) is the only spot on the cards. The water temp is sitting about average for this time of year, so nothing out of the ordinary there.

For this coming Saturday, September 12 and Sunday the 13th, forget it. We’ve got a SE wind at 9 mph making it cross-onshore and choppy, with a weak 5 ft swell from the SE at a short period of 8 seconds. Combined energy is a low 399. Just not worth paddling out. Sunday afternoon clears up a touch, but it’s still onshore and marginal.

Monday morning September 14 is the first tiny glimmer. The wind goes glassy (0 mph) early with a small 3 ft SSE groundswell (11 seconds) and combined energy of 195. It’s surfable but very ordinary. The best part is the clean surface, so if you’re desperate, go for a dawny. The afternoon gets ruined by a NE wind at 12 mph.

Then we hit a real blank run. Tuesday the 15th through Wednesday the 16th is tiny, weak, and windy. Swell drops under 3 ft, energy falls below 100, and the wind is a fresh cross-shore mess. The period spikes to 13 seconds on Wednesday afternoon but with a pathetic 0.3 ft swell. Just stay home.

Here’s where it gets interesting but dangerous. Thursday morning September 17, a big pulse arrives: 12 ft from the SSE at 10 seconds, with a massive combined energy of 2799. That’s strong. Winds are cross at 22 mph though, making it messy. The afternoon gets a score of 11 – the highest in the period – with wind and tide favorable, but the swell is predicted to be too big for this break. At over 8 ft, this is experts-only territory. Friday morning September 18 is similar: 8 ft from the SSE, energy of 1098, but again, too big for the break. The afternoon drops to 6 ft but turns cross-onshore and choppy.

The standout is Saturday morning September 19. We get a 5 ft SE groundswell at 11 seconds with a combined energy of 611 – that’s moderate energy, solid and clean. The wind goes glassy, 3 mph from the north. That means perfect, clean conditions. The swell direction is SE, and the optimum swell for Ballina North Wall is from the ENE, so it’s a bit off-angle, but the glassy surface and solid energy make this the best session of the whole 16 days. It’s a point/breakwater for advanced surfers, so it’s not a beginner wave, and crowds are possible – it’s labelled “sometimes,” so expect a few others out.

After that, from Sunday the 20th through the end of the period (September 27), it’s back to small, weak, and wind-affected. Swell rarely cracks 3 ft, energy drops to two-digit numbers, and the wind is mostly cross-on or onshore. The last day, September 27, has a 5 ft SSE swell at 10 seconds with 452 energy but it’s cross-onshore again. No good.

To sum it up: the only real standout is Saturday morning September 19 at Ballina North Wall. Glassy, clean, 5 ft SE groundswell. Experts only as it’s a point/breakwater. If you’re not an advanced surfer, steer clear of Thursday and Friday the 17th and 18th – that swell is way too big. Everything else in between is flat or trash.

Stay patient, mate. It’ll turn.

- Rusty

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