Bar Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – this stretch of the forecast is a real test of patience. The first week and a half is pretty grim, but there’s a monster waiting at the end of the tunnel if you can hold out.

Right now, and for a long time, there’s just nothing doing. The first sniff of anything rideable doesn’t show up until Wednesday morning the 19th. Bar Beach is the only spot on the cards, and it’s a beginner-friendly bank. Wednesday morning, the 19th, is a tease. A tiny 2ft of swell out of the ESE (10-second period) is nothing to write home about, but the wind is glassy, dead calm. That’s a rare treat. The water is running a bit colder than normal for this time of year at 64°, so don’t skimp on the rubber. The combined wave energy is weak (204), so you’ll be working for every little knee-high shove. It’s a session for the log and a whole lot of patience. Crowds are often a problem here, so with the surfless days before it, expect a few others with the same idea.

After that one window, it’s back to the doldrums. The wind swings onshore and the swell drops to nearly nothing. Monday morning the 24th has a clean, gentle offshore (NW) but only 2ft of weak S swell. You’d be surfing ripple. The next week is a write-off, with just a few pulses of small, short-period windswell that never line up with the wind. It’s a proper dry spell.

Then, hang onto your board. The whole pattern flips. Saturday, August 30th, is a serious wake-up call. A massive, long-period groundswell arrives. The energy is astronomical (10361). That’s a heavy number. We’re looking at 12ft of swell from the SSE with a 18-second period. That is a deep ocean pulse. For Bar Beach, an exposed beach break, that’s a red flag for most of us. The period is so long (over 15 seconds) that the lines will be too straight for a beach break, making it unpredictable and powerful. This is proper expert territory. The wind is a gentle cross-shore, which is about the only saving grace, but this is for the big-wave crew only. Beginners, stay well clear. Sunday morning the 30th still has 10ft of SSE swell, but it’s going straight onshore, so it’ll be a washing machine.

The very best of the run, and the one I’d circle, is Monday morning, August 31st. The swell has dropped to a still-chunky 6ft from the SSE, with a 12-second period (moderate energy at 956). That’s still a fair bit of water moving. The key is the wind: it’s glassy. Dead flat calm. For a beach break, that’s as good as it gets when the swell is this size. It’s still a bit too big for beginners (over 5ft), but for the intermediate crowd that can handle a proper head-high-plus wave, this is the standout. The conditions will be clean, lined up, and with that energy, the banks will be working. This is a classic dawny session.

After that, it tapers off. Tuesday morning, September 1st, still has some clean 4ft SSE swell (10 seconds) with a glassy wind, but it’s a step down. The rest of the first week of September is back to small and choppy.

So, the long story short: you’ve got a long, quiet wait. The standout is Monday morning, August 31st at Bar Beach. It’s the only day that combines decent size, excellent period, and absolute glass. Don’t sleep on it.

Rusty.

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