Black Middens Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here.

Honestly, looking at the next sixteen days, it's a quiet spell. There's nothing on offer that I'd call a proper standout, so we're just going to have to take what we can get. Black Middens is our only spot in the frame, and it's an inconsistent reef and river mouth setup that's pretty sheltered. That means it needs everything to line up just right, and for most of the month, it just doesn't.

The water temp is sitting at 59°, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Let's start with Sunday the 23rd. Sunday morning is probably the best of a very average bunch. We've got a clean 4ft swell from the NNE with an 8-second period, and a light cross-offshore wind from the NW at 3 mph. The combined energy is moderate at 181. It’s surfable, but very ordinary. Sunday afternoon turns messy with a cross-shore wind and poor conditions.

Monday the 24th is flat and poor, with tiny, weak swell. Tuesday the 25th is even smaller. Wednesday the 26th sees a bump in swell height to 5ft, but it's coming from the east with a short 6-second period and a cross-shore wind, so it’s going to be a bumpy, weak mess. That trend of poor, short-period, cross-shore slop continues right through Thursday and Friday.

Saturday the 29th offers a clean little 2ft wave with a cross-offshore breeze in the morning, but it’s tiny and weak.

Now, Monday the 31st is the only other time that’s *remotely* interesting. The morning session looks clean, almost glassy with a light SSW wind, and the swell is 4ft from the NNE with an 8-second period and moderate energy (178). It’s still described as “very ordinary”, but at least it’s surfable.

After that, into the first week of September, the swell picks up a little. We see heights of 5ft on the 1st and 5ft on the 2nd, but the wind is a strong cross to cross-onshore breeze from the SW and WSW, blowing at 12 to 16 mph. That's going to chop everything up. The wave energy gets into the moderate range (237 to 360), but the quality will be poor. Not worth getting excited about.

The second week from the 3rd of September onwards drops off again. Small, messy, or onshore winds dominate. The last few days from the 5th to the 7th are tiny, with strong winds making it look more interesting for a kite than a surfboard.

So, to sum it up: the only two sessions that are worth a look are Sunday morning, August 23rd, and Monday morning, August 31st. Both are at Black Middens, with clean 4ft NNE swells. Keep expectations low, and you might get a few fun ones. The rest of the run is a write-off for paddle surfing.

Stay patient,
Rusty.

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