Black Rocks Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s talk about the only game in town for the next couple of weeks: Black Rocks. This is a reef break, so it’s got that nice, defined shape when it’s working, but it’s inconsistent, so don’t expect it to be pumping every day. The water is sitting at about 77°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – feels like a little extra gift from the ocean.

The next few days are a bit of a mixed bag. Sunday the 19th is glassy in the morning with a tiny 2ft SW groundswell (period 16 seconds) – that’s a long-period swell, which can be a bit tricky on a reef as it might stand up and wall up, but the energy is weak (259) and the waves will be small, so it’s more of a longboard grovel session. The wind is glassy though, so it’s clean. The afternoon gets a bit of a cross-on breeze, so it’s not great.

Now, Monday the 20th is where it starts to get interesting. The morning comes in with a clean 6ft SSW swell (period 15 seconds) – that’s a solid, long-period groundswell with moderate energy (1680). With a light cross-offshore wind, it’s going to be clean, but at 6ft, it’s pushing into the size that’s better for experienced surfers. The afternoon is the real standout: glassy conditions, 8ft SSW swell, and the energy jumps up to 2087. That’s the best wave of the first week. Clean, glassy, and solid. You’ll want to be on your game.

Tuesday the 21st hangs in there with a 6ft SSW swell, still clean in the morning with a cross-off wind, and the afternoon goes glassy again. The period drops to 12 seconds, so it’s still a nice swell, but the energy is down to 1098. Still a very good day.

Wednesday the 22nd sees the swell drop and the wind turns cross-on, making it messy. After that, from Thursday the 23rd right through to Saturday the 26th, it’s a write-off. Strong SE winds, choppy, lumpy, and the swell is small and weak. Don’t bother.

Then Sunday the 26th afternoon, a new long-period SW swell (20 seconds!) arrives with 4ft, but it’s cross-shore and choppy, so it’s messy. The real next window is Monday the 27th. The swell jumps to 8ft SSW with a 16-second period and strong energy (2986). The wind is cross-shore though, so it’s not perfect, but for experienced surfers it’s a big, powerful groundswell that will be worth a look.

Tuesday the 28th is the second true standout of the whole forecast. The swell is a solid 10ft from the SSW, period 16 seconds, and the energy is massive at 5546 in the morning and 4058 in the afternoon. The wind is cross-offshore and clean. This is a big, powerful, long-period groundswell. At 10ft, it’s expert territory only. The reef is going to be handling that energy well, but you’ll need to be on your toes.

Wednesday the 29th and Thursday the 30th still have good size – 7ft and 7ft respectively – with clean cross-off winds, but the showers might put a bit of fresh water on the surface. The energy is still strong.

After that, from Friday the 31st of July onwards, the wind picks up hard from the ESE, getting up to 19-22 mph, and it’s all cross-shore and lumpy. The swell stays big, even hitting 13ft on Monday the 3rd of August, but with that kind of wind, it’s going to be a mess. There’s a brief window on Sunday the 2nd of August with a 10ft SSW swell, but a short 9-second period with a lot of cross-shore wind makes it look more like a kite-surfing session than a paddle session.

To sum it up: the best sessions are definitely Monday the 20th afternoon for the glassy 8ft, and Tuesday the 28th for the massive 10ft clean groundswell. The rest of the week has good pulses but gets blown out.

Rusty.

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