Bunkers Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here with the outlook for Bunkers.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with ya – this stretch is a long, slow grind. We’ve got a solid 16-day window here, and honestly, the first week and a half is pretty underwhelming. Surf’s on offer, but it’s small, choppy, and the winds are mostly cross or cross-onshore, which is a real drag.

Let’s break it down. Starting Saturday the 22nd of August, we’ve got tiny 2ft SSW swell with a long 13-second period, but the cross-on wind from the N at 6 mph just messes it up. The combined energy is pretty weak at 222, and the conditions are marginal with light wind ripples. It’s a bare minimum surf, not worth paddling out for.

Sunday the 23rd sees a bump up to 5ft NW swell, but it’s a short-period 7-second windswell with a combined energy of 417 – not much better. Monday the 24th brings 5ft NW swell, period creeping up to 8 seconds, energy at 644, but still cross-on winds. Tuesday the 25th drops back to 2ft SW swell, though the period stretches to 16 seconds. That’s a nice groundswell, but the size is tiny, and the cross-shore wind from the SW at 9 mph kills the shape.

Wednesday the 26th through to the end of August is a real barren run – tiny 2ft to 3ft swell, mostly long-period groundswell, but the cross-onshore winds just won’t let up. The combined energy hovers around 297 to 905, all poor or marginal. It’s a tough watch. This is a solid week of pretty poor quality.

Now, we start to see a pulse of bigger energy rolling in as we head into September. Tuesday the 1st of September shows 4ft NW swell picking up, and by Wednesday the 2nd we’ve got 5ft NW at 10 seconds, energy at 697. It’s still cross-on, but the size is starting to build.

The standout window, if you can call it that, kicks off on Thursday the 3rd of September – 5ft NW swell at 10 seconds, combined energy at 641. Conditions are still marginal with a 6 mph NNW offshore wind in the morning, which is promising, but it gets choppy by afternoon.

Then Friday the 4th of September is the biggest pulse of the outlook, but it’s a double-edged sword. The morning brings a whopping 12ft NW swell at 9 seconds, energy a huge 2178. That is strong, powerful stuff, but the period is short – it’s a windswell, not a clean groundswell. Saturday the 5th of September holds steady at 10ft NNW swell at 10 seconds, energy 2309 in the morning and 1868 by the afternoon. The wind is lighter on Saturday afternoon at 6 mph, but still cross-on.

Thing is, with a north-west swell that size, Bunkers is fully exposed to it. The optimum direction here is W, and this is coming from NNW/NW – not its sweet spot. Plus, at over 8ft, this is expert-only territory. The short period (9-10 seconds) combined with the big size will mean it walls up, hard to read, and the cross-onshore wind will make it messy.

For the average surfer, the only half-decent window is Thursday the 3rd of September morning – 5ft NW, light offshore from the NNW at 6 mph, energy 641. That gives you a clean-ish, ridable wave at a beginner-friendly spot. But beware, Bunkers is fairly consistent and a break where crowds can pop up.

The rest of this 16-day run is a tough one. A lot of small, bumpy, blown-out days with a couple of massive, short-period swell days that are only for the brave and the experts. I’d be looking for a change in the forecast, because this one ain’t giving us much on its own.

Rusty.

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