Bud Bud Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. I’ve been scanning the forecast for Bud Bud over the next fortnight, and to be honest, it’s a bit of a dog’s breakfast for most of it. There are a few nice windows, but you’ve got to wait for them.

Water temp is 70°F, which is a touch warmer than the usual for this time of year – nothing crazy, but it’s a nice little bonus.

The first week is mostly junk. Onshore and cross-onshore winds, weak and jumbled swell. The combined energy is all over the place – from a weak 73 up to a moderate 484, but the quality is poor. The waves are just lumpy and choppy, not worth the paddle.

Thursday the 17th is the first slight glimmer – glassy in the morning, with a small 3ft W swell at 11 seconds. The energy is moderate (144), but the waves are very ordinary. Surfable, but nothing to write home about.

The rest of the week stays in that same vein – small, weak swells, a bit of cross-shore chop. The 20th has a light cross-offshore breeze and a clean 3ft W swell, but it’s weak (112). The 21st and 22nd get stronger offshore winds (NE and ENE), but the swell stays small and the energy drops right down to 66 and 93. Clean mornings, but only ankle to knee high. Not worth suiting up for.

Now, the standout is clearly the 26th of September. Finally, a proper push. The morning has a moderate offshore ENE breeze, a 3ft WSW swell with a 15-second period, and the energy is moderate (276). The afternoon is the pick: still offshore ENE at 20 km/h, the swell bumps up to a clean 4ft from the W with a 14-second period, and the energy jumps to 460 (moderate). This is the cleanest, most powerful day of the run. The 30th also sparks up – Wednesday morning has a light offshore ENE breeze with a 5ft WSW swell at 11 seconds (431 energy), and the afternoon goes cross-offshore with a clean 5ft W swell at 10 seconds (825 energy). That’s a solid backup option.

But there are a few things to keep in mind. Bud Bud is an exposed break, and these W and WSW swells aren’t perfectly from its ideal direction (WSW is the optimum). The 26th is the best – the direction matches the optimum and the winds are clean. The 30th is close, but the direction is slightly off. Also, those long-period swells (14-15 seconds) can tend to wall up and break a bit straight at a beach break like this, so the shape might not be perfect, but the clean offshore winds should help a lot.

For the rest of the run, there are a few bigger swells over 5ft (like the 28th and 29th), but they’re coming with onshore winds and choppy conditions, which pretty much ruins them for surfing. If it gets big and messy like that, this exposed stretch is going to look a lot more interesting for the kite surfers than the surfers.

So, to sum it up: don’t rush out this week. The surf’s small and sloppy, with only a few ordinary, clean windows. Your best bets are the 26th and the 30th, with the 26th being the real standout – decent size, clean, and proper direction. The long-range stuff is promising but less certain, so keep an eye on it. It’s not a total blank, but it’s a patient one.

Rusty.

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