Bicentenial Park Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, and I’ve gotta level with you. The outlook for this neck of the woods is a tough one. The only spot in the game is Bicentennial Park, a reef break that’s exposed to the east, but it’s been marked as inconsistent and the crowds are always a factor. The trouble is, through the entire 16-day run, the swell is barely a whisper and the conditions are just off. Right now, the water’s sitting at 83°, which is about normal for this time of year.

We start off on Thursday, July 23, with a tiny 2ft easterly swell, but the wind is a cross-on from the ESE at 9 mph, making it choppy and messy. The combined energy is only 35 (weak), and the period is just 8 seconds, so nothing to get excited about. That’s the story through the next week: we’ve got a run of poor surf every day. The swell hangs around 1ft to 3ft, mostly from the east or southeast, with periods of 7 to 8 seconds. The wind shifts around, but it’s often cross-on or cross-off, and the energy stays low, mostly two-digit numbers like 20, 30, or 50. There’s a brief moment on Monday morning, July 27, with glassy conditions and a 1ft east swell, but it’s still tiny and the energy is only 20. Not worth paddling out for.

The gap of no real surf runs right through until the end of July. By the time we hit August 1, there’s a bit of an offshore wind setup, but the swell is still only 1ft to 2ft. The energy bumps up slightly to 31 on the morning of August 1, but it’s a 9-second period, so it’s a bit wobblier. The wind is offshore from the WSW, so the surface will be clean, but the waves are just too small to ride.

The best stretch, if you can call it that, is from August 3 onward. On Monday, August 3, the morning is clean with a light offshore breeze and a 2ft swell from the ESE, with a period of 7 seconds and energy of 36. That’s flat out the best of the run, but it’s still a poor wave. The afternoon gets messy again with a cross-on wind. Tuesday, August 4, brings a glassy morning with a 2ft ESE swell and energy of 32, but again, it’s tiny. Wednesday, August 5, has another glassy morning with a 2ft east swell (energy 27). The pattern just repeats: small, inconsistent, and the occasional decent window with clean conditions but no size.

Look, the standout here is the morning of Monday, August 3, with a 2ft southeast swell, a 7-second period, and light offshore wind. It’s the only time the energy crosses 100 (116 on the afternoon of August 3, but that’s with a messy cross-on wind). For a reef break like this, the long period groundswells that would really work aren’t showing up. The setup is more suited to a lazy float than a proper surf. It’s a tough one—this is one of those stretches where the forecast can change, so don’t write it off completely, but right now, I’d rather be looking at pictures.

Rusty.

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