Ballina North Wall Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with ya – the next couple of weeks are a bit of a mixed bag around Ballina. We’ve got a few windows that’ll get the heart pumping, but there’s plenty of flat spells and blown-out junk to wade through too. Let’s run through it.

The first real surf worth paddling out for hits Sunday morning, September 6th. Ballina North Wall is a point/breakwater setup, and it’s picking up a small but clean 3ft northerly windswell out of the NNE, with a short period of 6 seconds. The wind is light offshore from the WNW, so the surface will be glassy. It’s not a big day, but for a Sunday morning with the wife and kids still asleep, it’s a nice little session. The combined energy is weak at 79, so don’t expect any power – just a few fun little runners. The water temp is about average for this time of year, nothing wild.

Now, the standout in the whole forecast is Wednesday morning, September 9th. We’ve got a 5ft SSE groundswell rolling in with an 8-second period, and the wind is glassy from the NNW – that’s near as perfect as it gets for this break. The combined energy jumps to 276 (moderate), and the report says “expect good surf conditions.” This is the one to circle. The swell direction is straight out of the SSE, which is bang on the optimum ENE direction? Actually, no – the optimum is ENE, so this is a bit off, but the size, the clean conditions, and the consistency make it a solid morning. It’s an advanced spot, but for those who know the wall, this is your window.

But be warned: Thursday the 10th gets ugly. A big 10ft SSE swell hits with a screaming 35 km/h cross-shore wind, combined energy over 900 – that’s strong – and the report says poor surf. Too big and messy for paddle surfing; this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than anything else.

Friday the 11th is interesting but tricky. The morning has a 5ft SSE swell with a very long period of 14 seconds (groundswell), but the wind is a fresh cross-shore at 30 km/h, making it lumpy. The afternoon sees the swell jump to 8ft with a 13-second period, and the wind eases but remains cross-shore. The combined energy is massive at 1666, and the report says the swell is predicted to be too big for this break. Only for the experts, and even then, it’s a gamble.

Saturday morning the 12th is another clean window. A 5ft SSE swell with an 11-second period, light cross-offshore wind from the S, and combined energy of 641 (strong). The report says “expect very good surf conditions.” This is your second standout. The direction is solid, the period is good, and the wind is clean. It’s not as glassy as the 9th, but it’s a proper morning of waves.

After that, it drops off. The rest of the second week – from the 13th to the 19th – is mostly small, weak, and blown out. There’s a brief moment on the 18th with a tiny 0.7ft swell and offshore wind, but it’s not worth a paddle. The 19th has a 3ft long-period swell (15 seconds) but with a strong 40 km/h wind, so it’s clean but too small and windy to get excited about.

Overall, the best of the bunch is Wednesday morning the 9th, with a close second on Saturday morning the 12th. The rest is a write-off or only for the die-hards. Stay patient, and keep an eye on the forecast – it tends not to stay poor for long around here.

Rusty.

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