Cable Station Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Hey folks, Rusty here. Let’s talk about Cable Station Reef. We’ve got a solid, persistent run of WSW groundswell rolling in over the next couple of weeks, but the wind situation is going to be the real story. The water’s sitting at 63°, which is a bit colder than normal for this time of year, so don’t forget the booties.

The first week is honestly a bit of a write-off. The swell is there, but Sunday the 30th through Saturday the 5th of September is plagued by onshore and cross-onshore winds, mostly moderate to fresh, leaving the surface lumpy or choppy. The wave energy is massive for the area—values of 2000+ to nearly 4400 (moderate to very strong energy)—but with the wind messing it up, it’s just not worth paddling out. There’s a real gap of poor conditions for those first days. By Thursday the 3rd, the swell pushes over 7 ft, and it stays strong, but the wind is just bad. The surf quality scores are zero or one for those sessions.

Now, the standout window is Monday the 7th of September. Monday morning, the wind goes glass-off – dead calm. The swell is a solid 8 ft out of the WSW, with a very long period of 17 seconds. That’s proper groundswell with big-time energy (4108). The conditions are described as excellent for experienced surfers. This is an expert-only wave size and the period is super long, which means sets will be powerful and walled-up at a reef. It’s going to be clean as a whistle, but you need to know what you’re doing. Expect some crowd hustle at peak times—it’s a spot that draws a crowd.

Tuesday the 8th and Wednesday the 9th mornings are also promising. Tuesday has a light cross-offshore breeze from the NNE, and Wednesday morning has a gentle cross-offshore from the same direction, both with 8 ft swell and 16-17 seconds period. Clean, lined-up waves, but still expert-level size. The lineups will be a bit more user-friendly than Monday’s absolute peak, but both mornings are real quality.

After that, Thursday the 10th onward the swell stays pumping, 8 ft to 10 ft, but the winds get tricky again, mostly cross-on. The later sessions on the 12th and 13th have some bigger, messy days with moderate to fresh winds. Nothing else really jumps out as a must-go session after that first week’s glass-off window.

Bottom line: if you’re a confident surfer, lock in Monday the 7th morning. It’s the best of the best. The Monday and Tuesday mornings right after are also tidy. The rest of the window is mostly a case of waiting out the wind. Keep an eye on the forecast though, stuff can change.

Rusty.

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