Broken Head Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Let’s be straight up: the next few days are a write-off for a proper surf at Broken Head. The swell is tiny and messy, and the strong winds are just making it worse. But don’t walk away just yet – there’s a serious pulse of energy coming in around the middle of next week that’s got some real potential.

We’re looking at a long gap of almost no surf worth paddling out for. From Wednesday morning through to the end of this week, the swell is mostly under 1 ft, with periods under 10 seconds and combined energy readings in the single digits. It’s flat, it’s poor, and the wind is fresh or strong. Not worth the wetsuit.

Things start to get a bit more interesting around Thursday 16 July, but it’s not good news for beginners. A big SSE swell pushes in at 10 ft, with a period of 8 seconds and combined energy jumping to 1286. That’s moderate to strong energy, but the swell is over 8 ft, so it’s expert-only territory. The wind is cross-off and fresh, so the waves will be clean but powerful and jumbled. This holds through Friday 17 July into Saturday 18 July, with swell peaking at 15 ft on Saturday afternoon and combined energy hitting 4138. There’s a lot of water moving, but the quality is marginal due to the wind direction and short period. It’s a raw, heavy ocean – think big, lumpy lines and tough conditions. Honestly, with that much wind and swell, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The real standout comes on Tuesday 21 July. The swell drops to a more manageable 8 ft from the east, with a period of 10 seconds and combined energy of 1140. The wind turns light from the SSE, giving a clean cross-off breeze. The surf is marked as excellent for experienced surfers. This is the best window of the whole forecast. Swell direction from the east is right on the optimum for Broken Head, which is an exposed point break that loves ENE swell. The waves will have shape, power, and decent gaps between sets. A morning session on Tuesday 21 July is the pick.

Wednesday 22 July is also very good. Swell drops to 6 ft, still from the east, with a 10-second period and combined energy of 696. The wind is light from the SSW, giving clean, glassy conditions in the morning. Expect very good surf. This is a solid runner-up, especially for the early birds.

After that, the swell gradually fades through the rest of the month. The waves get smaller and less consistent, but there are still a few clean mornings with light offshore winds. Saturday 25 July and Sunday 26 July both have early windows with 8 ft and 7 ft SSE swell, light offshore winds, and combined energy around 528–951. The period is short (7–8 seconds), so the waves will be a bit crumbly, but it’s clean and rideable for experienced surfers.

Water temperature is about average for the time of year – nothing unusual to report.

So, to wrap it up: the first week is a no-go unless you’re a big-wave charger and like punishment. The standout is Tuesday 21 July – clean, powerful, and east swell hitting exactly where Broken Head wants it. Wednesday 22 July is also excellent. The rest of the window is a slow fade with a few clean but small mornings.

Rusty.

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