O'Neills Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, let’s have a look at what’s coming up at O’Neills Bay.

Right out of the gate, the mid-week is rough. Wednesday and Thursday are a write-off – cross/onshore winds and choppy, lumpy conditions with some serious energy in the water (1053 to 4970 combined energy). That 10ft to 12ft swell is just too messy and big for a fun paddle. Honestly, that setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The water temp is sitting at 59°, which is dead average for this time of year, so nothing unusual there.

Friday isn’t much better – still cross-shore winds and a lumpy 8ft to 8ft SW groundswell. The energy is still high (2956 to 3198 combined energy), but the quality is marginal. Not worth getting too excited about.

Now, Saturday the 11th is where things start to turn. The morning brings a light ESE breeze, cross-offshore, cleaning up a 5ft SW swell with a long 15-second period. The combined energy drops to 1441, but the cleanliness is the real story here – it’s going to be clean. If you’re experienced, this is your window. Then Saturday arvo goes glassy with a 4ft WSW swell – looks like very good surf, smaller but silky.

Sunday the 12th is the true standout of the whole outlook. Morning has a light offshore wind from the ENE, clean conditions, and a 6ft WSW groundswell with a 16-second period. That is proper long-period groundswell energy (1356 combined energy) and with an offshore breeze, O’Neills will be offering up some lined-up, powerful walls. Best for experienced surfers, but it will be a joy. The afternoon stays clean with a 5ft swell. This is the pick of the week.

Monday the 13th still offers clean surf with a smaller 4ft to 3ft WSW swell – good for a cruise on a longboard.

Tuesday the 14th starts glassy with a tiny 3ft W swell, but the period drops to 8 seconds, so it’s weak (297 combined energy). Afternoon turns onshore and poor.

Wednesday the 15th has a weird one – a 4ft WSW swell but with a huge 21-second period. That long of a period at a beach break can mean waves that are hard to read and tend to close out, so take that caveat. Energy jumps back up to 1796 combined energy, but the cross-shore wind adds little ripples. It’s a maybe.

Then Thursday the 16th is another gem – morning has a clean offshore wind from the ENE and a 7ft WSW groundswell (2109 combined energy). That’s solid, clean, and for the experienced crew only. Afternoon stays offshore and clean with a 6ft swell. Back-to-back good days.

The following week from Friday the 17th through Tuesday the 22nd gets more marginal. The swell stays small (mostly 3ft to 4ft) and the wind gets strong offshore from the ENE up to 30-35 km/h (18-21 mph). That’s a clean but blown-out texture – fresh and bumpy. The energy is low (294 to 664 combined energy). Not much to write home about.

Wednesday the 22nd throws up a massive 15ft SW swell, but the file says it’s too big for this break, and the period is only 11 seconds. That’s a wall of whitewater. Afternoon drops to 10ft with a clean offshore wind, but that’s still only for the brave and experienced. Combined energy peaks at 5458.

Thursday the 23rd drops back to smaller, clean but windy 6ft surf, fading further into the day.

Bottom line: Saturday morning the 11th and Sunday the 12th are the true standouts. But if you can wait, Thursday the 16th is also a beauty. The longer-range stuff after that looks promising but less certain.

Rusty.

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