Broadbeach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you—this outlook for the Broadbeach area is a long, slow burn with a real tease right at the end. We’ve got a big gap of nothing special before the one true standout shows up.

Right from the start, things are average to poor. That early SE swell on Wednesday the 19th is pushing 5ft with an 11-second period, but the cross-on wind at 12 mph has it chopped up and ugly. Combined swell energy is moderate at 849. It’s poor surf, no two ways about it. That pattern sticks through Thursday and into Friday morning with tiny, weak swell dropping below 3ft. The brightest spot in this first week is Friday the 21st morning—the swell is only 3ft from the east, but glassy conditions with a NE breeze at 3 mph makes it clean. It’s surfable, but still very ordinary. That’s about as good as it gets for a while.

From Friday afternoon right through to Saturday the 30th of August, we have a serious drought. Swell sizes hover between 1ft and 3ft, and what little energy there is stays weak (combined energy often below 100, never above 101). The water temp is 68°F, running 1°F colder than average for this time of year — nothing wild, just a touch cooler. There’s a few glassy mornings on the 23rd and 24th, but with such tiny waves, you’d be better off with a longboard or a SUP.

Now here’s the real standout, the one worth circling on your calendar. On Sunday the 30th of August, the morning session is the pick of the whole 16 days. We get a jump in swell to 7ft from the SSE, with a 9-second period and clean conditions thanks to a light WSW breeze at 6 mph. Combined swell energy hits 862 (moderate). This is solid groundswell energy, but that 9-second period means it’s not super long—still punchy enough to have some shape. For Broadbeach, which is an exposed beach break, the SSE direction and clean offshore wind should set up some proper waves. That 7ft is a big step up; it’s gonna be too much for beginners, so this is one for the experienced crew. Crowds are often here, so expect company.

After that standout Sunday morning, the surf drops quickly that afternoon and stays poor right through to the end of the forecast on Thursday the 3rd of September. The Monday the 31st has a 4ft SSE swell with a long 11-second period, but the cross wind is strong at 15–18 mph, making it lumpy and messy. Not worth paddling out.

Bottom line: If you’re aching for a wave, you’ve got to wait until Saturday the 29th of August is still tiny, but Sunday the 30th morning delivers the goods. Everything else is a write-off until then. That Sunday morning is the one.

Rusty.

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