Cape Paterson Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, checkin’ in from the coast. Let’s be straight with you – the next two weeks at Cape Paterson look like a real mixed bag. We’re in for a rough patch to start, with some big, messy energy rollin’ through, but there’s a couple of brief windows where it could clean up if you’re patient. The water temp is sittin’ about average for this time of year, so nothin’ wild there.

The first few days are a write-off. Friday the 21st and Saturday the 22nd are pumping with strong swell energy, but a fresh cross-shore and cross-onshore wind is just makin’ a lumpy, choppy mess of things. Not worth paddlin’ out.

Sunday the 23rd gets a little better. The swell drops to 8ft from the SW with a 14-second period, and the wind eases off. The morning is still a bit cross, but the afternoon lightens up. It’s still marginal, with a cross-chop, but you might find a couple of so-so ones if you’re desperate.

Monday the 24th is poor again – fresh cross-off wind in the morning but the swell’s small and weak. Not your day.

Now, here’s your first real standout. Tuesday morning, 25th of August. The wind goes glassy, absolutely dead calm, with a 5ft WSW swell and a 13-second period. It’s clean, it’s glassy, and it’s got enough push. This is the best morning of the whole run. The crowd factor is listed as “sometimes,” so you might have a few out, but that glassy window will be gold. Get in the water early.

Tuesday afternoon goes downhill fast with a cross-on shorey and a choppy 7ft. Wednesday the 26th is a full-on mess – 12ft SW swell but with a short, weak 8-second period and a fresh cross-onshore. That’s a lot of water movin’ but nothin’ you’d wanna paddle into. Too big for beginners, too messy for anyone.

We get a bit of a breather from Thursday the 27th through the end of the month – small, weak swells (under 5ft) and mostly cross or cross-on wind. A few clean moments pop up, like Saturday morning the 29th with a 4ft swell from the WSW and a clean cross-off breeze. It’s not big, but it’s rideable. The energy is weak, so you’ll be huntin’ for the little ones.

The end of the run, around Sunday the 30th and Monday the 31st, gets real small – 3ft down to 2ft. The 31st has a super long 21-second period SW groundswell, but it’s tiny. That long period will make it break real straight at this beach-and-reef setup, so not ideal. Still, glassy and clean conditions on Sunday afternoon with 3ft could be a fun little cruiser board session.

Lookin’ into the first week of September, the first few days are marginal at best – small swells, a bit of cross-chop. By Thursday the 3rd, the swell picks up to 8ft from the WSW with a 14-second period, but it’s onshore wind and messy. Friday the 4th has some serious energy with a 6ft SW swell and 18-second period, but a fresh cross-shore will make it lumpy. That’s a lot of power for a messy day – could be more for the kite crew than the paddle crew.

Overall, the best bet by a mile is Tuesday morning, the 25th of August. Glassy, clean, solid 5ft swell. Get on it. After that, Saturday the 29th morning is your next best clean option on a smaller day.

Stay salty,
Rusty

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