Bay Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I gotta be straight with you – it’s a pretty quiet run ahead for Bay Street. Over the next 16 days, starting from now, there’s not a whole lot to get excited about. We’re looking at small, onshore wind-affected surf for most of the period, with only a couple of fleeting windows that might offer something decent.

Let’s start with the overall picture. The swell is tiny – mostly around 0.3m to 0.7m (that’s 1ft to 2ft) – and it’s coming from the SSW and SW, which is okay for this spot, but the wind is a killer. Nearly every session has onshore or cross-onshore wind, keeping the surface lumpy and messy. The combined wave energy is moderate at times, hitting values like 219 to 365, but it’s just not translating into rideable waves because of the poor conditions. The water temp? No anomaly mentioned, so it’s about average for the time of year, nothing wild.

Now, let’s walk through it day by day. Monday the 17th is a write-off – 0.7m (2ft) SSW swell at 14 seconds, but onshore wind from the SSW and SW makes it poor. Same story Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th: small swell, onshore or cross-on wind, borderline surf at best. Thursday the 20th through to Saturday the 22nd is all poor – winds just won’t give us a break. Sunday the 23rd through Tuesday the 25th is marginal at best, with a few morning glimpses of clean-ish conditions, but the swell is tiny and still onshore.

Now, here’s a real standout – Friday the 28th of August. The afternoon session is the only one in the whole forecast that scores a “good” conditions tag. We’ve got 0.6m (2ft) of SSW swell at 16 seconds, and for once, the wind is cross-offshore from the ESE at 15 km/h (9 mph). That’s clean – light. The wave energy is 226, so moderate, but the clean surface makes it the best bet on offer. Still, it’s small, so not a day to go charging.

Saturday the 29th morning is worth a mention too – 0.7m (2ft) SW swell at 16 seconds, with light cross-on wind at only 5 km/h (3 mph). Combined energy hits 365, which is the highest we see, but that cross-on wind keeps it marginal. Not a standout, but if you’re desperate, it’s better than nothing.

After that, Sunday the 30th and Monday the 31st slide back into poor or marginal territory, and Tuesday the 1st of September fizzles out with onshore wind again.

Bottom line: Bay Street is a beginner-friendly spot here, fairly consistent, but with so much onshore wind and tiny swell, it’s just not delivering. The only real window to paddle out is Friday the 28th afternoon or maybe Saturday the 29th morning, and even then, keep expectations low. It’s not going to be great, but it’s the best we’ve got.

Rusty.

Read more