Cape Paterson Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here again, same story but in feet and miles an’ all that. Let’s talk Cape Paterson.

First week’s pretty rough, I’ll be straight with you. From Sunday the 6th through Wednesday the 9th, it’s mostly onshore and cross-onshore winds, WSW and SSW, with swell running 7ft to 11ft from the southwest. Plenty of juice in the water but the wind’s just wreckin’ it—choppy and blown out, not worth paddlin’. The combined energy is strong to very strong (numbers in the 1832 to 13912 range), but that don’t help when the surface is all torn up.

Thursday the 10th and Friday the 11th, still no good. Swell drops from 10ft to 7ft, but cross-onshore winds keep it poor. Then Saturday the 12th of September—now we’re talkin’. Saturday morning’s clean with a light north wind, cross-offshore at 3 mph, and a 6ft SW groundswell with a long 16-second period. That’s proper energy (1513 combined energy) and the wind’s glassin’ it up. Cape Paterson’s a beach and reef setup, so that long-period swell can break a bit straight on the beach, but with those light conditions it’s the best of the whole two weeks. Crowds can be around sometimes, so expect a few others out, but for clean lines, Saturday morning’s your window.

Saturday afternoon the wind goes light cross-shore from the southeast at 3 mph, with a 5ft SW swell. Smaller, a little ripple on it, but still okay if you missed the morning.

Sunday the 13th onward, it’s back to messy. Sunday morning has a 4ft WSW swell but a fresh north-northwest breeze at 18 mph—clean lookin’ but the swell’s small and the wind’s strong. Monday the 14th brings rain and a near gale west-southwest wind at 31 mph, with a 10ft short-period swell (7 seconds). Blown out, no doubt. Tuesday the 15th has 8ft WSW swell but onshore winds, still no good.

Wednesday the 16th and Thursday the 17th offer a glimmer—marginal conditions with 8ft to 13ft SW swells and some cross-offshore winds, but the wind’s still fresh to strong (15–25 mph). Thursday afternoon the 17th has a 13ft WSW swell but a strong north-northwest breeze—clean but huge, only for the experts, and with that short 9-second period it’s not gonna be the best shape.

After that, from Friday the 18th all the way to Monday the 21st of September, it’s mostly onshore or cross-onshore, with wind in the 25–31 mph range and swell sizes from 7ft to 11ft. A couple marginal windows pop up—like Monday the 21st morning with a light northwest cross-shore and 8ft WSW swell, and Monday afternoon with a light southerly onshore and the same swell—but still borderline, with combined energy in the 2000s.

So here’s the bottom line: a lot of poor conditions, but that Saturday the 12th morning is the standout. If you’re keen, be there early for clean 6ft SW swell, light offshores, and a bit of that long-period power. Otherwise, it’s a lot of waitin’ and watchin’.

Rusty.

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