Big Ben Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you – this 16-day stretch for Big Ben is a tough one to get excited about. We’ve got a few tiny windows of hope, but mostly it’s a story of messy wind and just-okay swell. The water’s sitting at 83°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so at least you’ll be comfortable while you’re waiting.

The best bits of the whole run? Honestly, they’re pretty modest. Friday the 28th of August afternoon has got some potential. Swell’s only 2ft from the east with a solid 12-second period – that’s a clean, long-period groundswell. The wind’s a gentle westerly at 9 mph, coming cross-off, so it’ll be clean. The combined energy is moderate (314). It’s not big, but for a beginner-friendly beach/jetty setup that’s inconsistent, this is about as good as it gets. Keep in mind, it rarely breaks well here, so grab it.

After that, we hit a real flat spell. Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th of August offer tiny 2ft to 2ft east swell, but the wind is mostly cross-on or choppy. Sunday afternoon goes glassy with 2ft east swell, but it’s just too small to really ride. That gap of nothing-worthwhile stretches for several days through the end of August and into early September.

Monday the 31st of August and Tuesday the 1st of September see a bump to 4ft east swell, but the wind is all over the place – cross, onshore – and the conditions are poor. Not worth paddling out.

Then there’s a big gap of poor surf and ordinary conditions until Friday the 4th of September afternoon. That afternoon, we get a glassy, 3ft swell from the south-southwest (241 moderate energy), with a risk of thunderstorms and light east wind. It’s clean, but the swell’s short-period (10 seconds) and small. Still, it’s the next best thing in this outlook.

Now, if you’re an expert, keep your eye on Sunday the 6th and Monday the 7th of September. We’ve got a solid 7ft to 8ft south swell rolling in, with a long 12-14 second period. Combined energy jumps way up to 1556-1631 (strong). But here’s the catch: the wind is a moderate to fresh cross-shore from the south-west, creating a lumpy cross-chop. For a beach/jetty, that long-period south swell might break a bit straight and messy with that wind. It’s marginal, and honestly, this set-up looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing unless you’re really keen on a bumpy, powerful wave.

The run continues with messy, windy conditions through most of the second week. The one standout in that second week is Friday the 11th of September morning. We get glassy conditions with a light west-northwest wind at 3 mph, and 5ft southerly swell (485 moderate energy, 9-second period). That’s clean and rideable, and the best bet for the end of the outlook. It’s a solid size for experts, and with that glass, it’ll be smooth.

Inconsistent, mostly small or messy, and crowds are sometimes an issue here. Not the best run for Big Ben, but keep an eye on those few clean windows.

Rusty.

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