Ballina North Wall Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you—this Ballina North Wall outlook is a bit of a slow burner. We’ve got a rough start with nothing to get excited about for the first few days, but the second week starts to show some real promise, especially if you can wait it out.

The first few days are a write-off. The swell is tiny and all over the place, with short-period wind slop. Thursday 30th July and Friday 31st July mornings are clean with the wind coming from the south-southwest, but the swell is only 2 to 4 ft and the period is a pathetic 5 to 7 seconds. The combined energy is weak (89 on Thursday morning, 75 on Friday morning), so you’re looking at a lake. Not worth paddling for.

We get a bit of a pulse over the weekend, but it’s messy. Saturday 1st August morning sees a bump in size to 6 ft from the SSE with a 10-second period, and the combined energy jumps to 677 (moderate), but it’s accompanied by rain showers and a cross-off wind. The model calls it "marginal" at best, and the afternoon gets cross-onshore and choppy. Sunday 2nd August morning is the first real standout. The swell is 6 ft from the SE, 10 seconds, with a cross-off SSW breeze at just 3 mph. It’s glassy clean, and the energy is strong at 886. The model says "expect very good surf conditions," and for a point break like this, that’s a solid call. This is the best of the early run.

After that, the swell drops off again through the middle of the week. Monday 3rd August morning is clean with a 6 ft SE swell and a light offshore WSW wind, but it’s dropping quickly. By Tuesday 4th August, you’re back to 4 ft and weak energy. The rest of that week is all under 3 ft—just not worth it.

The second week starts to look up. Tuesday 11th August morning is a sleeper pick: a 4 ft SE swell with a 10-second period, light offshore west wind, and clean conditions. The combined energy is 327 (moderate), and the model says "expect good surf conditions." The real highlight, though, is Wednesday 12th August morning. The swell ticks up to 4 ft from the ESE with a 12-second period—that’s proper groundswell. The wind is a light offshore WSW breeze at 9 mph, and the energy is 487 (moderate to strong). At Ballina North Wall, a point break, that long-period ESE swell will line up beautifully. It’s the standout of the entire forecast, but it’s a week and a half away, so keep an eye on the forecasts.

The water temp is about average for the time of year down here. No big anomaly to report.

A quick note: this break is a point/breakwater setup, so it handles those longer-period swells well. It’s for advanced surfers only, and you can expect crowds sometimes. The swell direction matches the optimum ENE direction pretty well, especially on that Wednesday morning.

So, bottom line: Sunday 2nd August morning is your early bird special, and Wednesday 12th August morning is the one to circle on the calendar. Everything else is a miss or a gamble.

Rusty.

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