Buffalo Bay Wildside Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, let’s not beat around the bush. For this stretch, Buffalo Bay Wildside is the only game in town, and it’s a proper mixed bag of a forecast. The swell comes and goes in pulses, and the wind plays nice just often enough to give you a few windows to really go for it. Water temp is sitting around 59° which is a solid 4° colder than usual for this time of year, so you’ll feel that bite for sure – dig out the thickest rubber you’ve got.

The first couple of days are just teasers. Monday the 31st has clean lines but a light cross-onshore breeze messes with the surface, and it’s very inconsistent with marginal conditions showing up. Not worth paddling out for.

Then Tuesday the 1st of September keeps that inconsistent pattern with a building swell hitting 8 ft to 8 ft from the SW, but again that cross-onshore wind and sketchy conditions mean you’re better off waiting. Wednesday the 2nd morning is where it first gets interesting. We’ve got a proper 10 ft SW groundswell rolling in, and get this – glassy conditions. Dead calm. That’s a beautiful thing. The combined swell energy is massive at 2982, so it’s got serious grunt. This is a standout session for experienced surfers only – 10 ft is too big for anyone but the experts. The crowd factor is only "sometimes" an issue here, so you’ve got a chance at some lonely, heavy, clean waves. Afternoon sees the wind shift and chop it up.

Thursday the 3rd turns ugly with heavy rain and a strong, messy 13 ft S windswell that’s basically unsurfable. Friday the 4th cleans right up with a stiff cross-offshore breeze and a big 10 ft ESE swell – again, expert territory, but the combined energy is still huge at 2740. If you’re skilled and hungry, you’ll get some memorable drop-ins. This is another standout morning and afternoon.

From Saturday the 5th the size drops back to a more manageable 7 ft, and through to Monday the 8th we see a long-period SW groundswell showing up on the 6th with a period of 17 seconds – that’s a very long period groundswell. At a place like this, it’ll provide deep, pushy waves with long waits between sets, which can actually make the paddle out easier. The combined energy peaks at a massive 3932 on Sunday the 6th morning, but the rating on conditions isn’t quite as high that day due to some marginal reporting.

Tuesday the 9th sees things mellow right down to 4 ft, and then we hit a real dry spell. From the 10th of September through to the 15th, the swell is mostly under 5 ft with persistent cross-onshore or choppy winds. It’s a flat spell for sure – several days where there’s really nothing worth chasing.

In short, the best of the best is Wednesday the 2nd of September morning’s glassy, 10 ft groundswell, and Friday the 4th of September’s clean cross-offshore and massive 10 ft ESE swell. Both are strictly for the experienced crew. Everything else is a waiting game.

Rusty.

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