Big Ben Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the cards for Big Ben over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, the first week is a real tough one. We're looking at a long stretch of small, messy waves starting Wednesday the 22nd of July and running right through to the end of the month. The swell is tiny, with a few pulses of weak energy, so there's just nothing to get excited about. Winds are mostly cross or onshore, and the water temp is sitting at a normal 78° for the time of year, but that doesn't help the surf. You're better off leaving the boards in the shed for that whole first week. It's a proper blank run.

Now, hang in there, because things get interesting from the 1st of August. On Saturday the 1st, we see a solid pulse of swell start to build, with ESE groundswell pushing 7ft to 8ft with a very long period of 17 to 18 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 2522 and 3558, which is strong. But the wind is onshore, and the conditions are just marginal. It's a taste of what's coming.

The real standout – and I mean the only one worth planning for – is Sunday the 2nd of August through Tuesday the 4th. Sunday morning sees a big, powerful ESE groundswell at 10ft and an 18-second period, with a massive 5437 energy reading. That's a lot of water moving. The wind is a light cross-on, so it's not perfect, but the forecast says the swell is predicted to be too big for this break. This is expert-only territory at Big Ben. It's a beach/jetty setup, so that long-period groundswell might make it a bit straight and tricky, but for the experienced crew, it'll be a wild ride.

Monday the 3rd brings similar size at 10ft, with a clean cross-offshore wind from the NNE in the morning. That's a much better look, but again, it's well over the 8ft mark, so only for the experts. The energy is still huge at 4140.

Tuesday the 4th is actually the best call of the whole period. The swell drops to a still-chunky 8ft from the E, with a 15-second period, and we get a clean cross-offshore wind from the W. The energy is 2779. The forecast says "excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers". That's the one. It's still big, so only for the experienced, but if you've got the skills and the gear, Tuesday the 4th is the day to be at Big Ben.

Wednesday the 5th sees the swell drop and the wind turn nasty, so it's a short window of quality. The crowd situation at Big Ben is listed as "sometimes", so you might have some company on that Tuesday morning, but it's a quality break when it's on.

So to wrap it up: the first week is a write-off. The second week fires up with a big, powerful swell, but it's only for the experts. The pick of the bunch is Tuesday the 4th of August.

Stay safe out there.

Rusty.

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