Boulders Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, gather ‘round. Rusty here. Let’s have a look at the outlook for Boulders. It’s a reef break, advanced territory, and it’s pretty exposed so it catches a bit of everything. Water temp is sitting at 81°F which is about average for this time of year, nothing unusual there.

Honestly, I’ve got to level with you – this is a tough run. The first week is pretty much a write-off. We’ve got a consistent cross-shore wind from the ESE blowing at 19 to 19 mph, and that lumpy cross-chop is killing any chance of clean waves. The swell is from the ESE too, coming in around 4 ft to 6 ft with a short period of 9 seconds, so the wave energy is moderate. Poor surf conditions across the board. Thursday the 13th, Friday the 14th, Saturday the 15th – don’t bother.

Come Sunday the 16th, the swell direction swings to the SW and the period jumps to 18 seconds – that’s a proper groundswell, long-period stuff. But the height drops to just 3 ft and we’re still stuck with that ESE wind creating a cross-onshore chop. The energy is still moderate. It’s a tease.

We get a small window on Monday afternoon, the 17th. The wind eases to 9 mph and it’s a gentle cross-shore breeze. The swell is 3 ft from the SW with a 16-second period. The report calls it “marginal.” For an advanced break, a 3 ft SW groundswell with that long period might actually wrap in and offer some nice lines at Boulders – it’s a reef, after all, so that long period won’t break too straight like it would at a beach. But with the wind at cross-shore, it’s still going to be a bit jumbled. You could get a few, but it’s not going to be epic.

From Tuesday the 18th right through to the 27th, it’s a long stretch of poor to marginal conditions. The wind stays up, and the swell, though sometimes getting up to 7 ft and very strong energy, is constantly blown out by cross-onshore winds. That 7 ft from the S on the 20th with 15-second period is a proper lump, but with a fresh cross-onshore wind, it’ll be a washing machine. For an advanced spot, that’s expert-only, and even then, it’ll be a battle. Kite surfers might be eyeing that up, but for paddle surfing, it’s ugly.

Then we get to Friday the 28th. The swell is up to 8 ft from the SE, but the period drops to only 7 seconds – that’s short-period wind swell, crumbly and weak for its height. We’ve got a fresh cross-shore to cross-onshore wind at 22 mph. It’s beam-onshore slop.

There’s not a single day in this 16-day window that looks like a stand-out session. The best chance is that Monday afternoon on the 17th for a few quiet, cleanish lines if you’re an advanced surfer who doesn’t mind a bit of cross-chop. But truth be told, this is a disappointing outlook. Boulders is a good break, but the wind just doesn’t play ball anywhere in this forecast.

Rusty.

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