Cape Paterson Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break it down. Rusty here, with the straight goods on Cape Paterson.

This stretch of coast is gonna be a bit of a mixed bag, and I gotta be honest – the first real surf doesn’t show up until Saturday the 18th, so there’s a dry spell right at the start. The early part of the run is messy, but there are a couple of windows where it cleans up nicely.

The first real chance to paddle out is Saturday afternoon, the 18th of July. The swell is a solid 6 ft out of the WSW with a period of 13 seconds, packing a decent amount of energy (1018). But the wind is a light cross-on from the W, so it’s not perfect. It’s a bit of a marginal one, but it’s surfable if you’re keen.

The real standout in this whole outlook is Sunday morning, the 19th of July. The swell drops a touch to 4 ft from the WSW, but the period is still a solid 12 seconds, and the wave energy is moderate (466). The wind goes light and cross-off from the N, and the call is for clean surf. For a beach and reef setup like Cape Paterson, that’s a beauty. The water temp is sitting at 57°, which is about average for this time of year, so no surprises there. This is your best bet for the whole run – a clean, lined-up morning.

Monday the 20th gets ruined by strong cross-shore winds, and the quality drops right off. Tuesday the 21st has some size (5 ft to 6 ft) and a long period, but the wind is still too messy to make it any good. The swell energy is strong (969 and 983), but the wind is the enemy.

Then we hit a real rough patch. From Wednesday the 22nd all the way through to the end of the month, it’s pretty much a write-off. The wind is howling, the swell gets big and unruly – we’re talking 10 ft to 12 ft on the 23rd, with a huge energy reading (4838) – but it’s all onshore or cross-shore, lumpy, and ugly. That 12 ft stuff on Thursday the 23rd is only for the experts, and even then, the wind is blowing directly onshore at 25 mph, so it’s a mess.

We get a bit of a breather on Saturday the 25th, with a 7 ft swell from the SW, but the wind is still cross-shore, and the quality is marginal. The energy is still high (1367), but it’s not clean.

The forecast gets a little more interesting right at the tail end. On Sunday the 2nd of August, there’s a promising but less certain window. The morning is clean with cross-off winds from the E, and a 4 ft swell from the WSW with a long 16-second period (768 energy). Then the afternoon looks even better: a 6 ft swell from the WSW with a very long 18-second period, and the wind goes light and onshore from the SW. The energy jumps up to 2336, and the call is “clean” for the morning and “unknown” for the afternoon, but it’s the best-looking thing in the second week. That long period stuff often needs a reef or a point to work best, but at Cape Paterson, it’s worth checking if the tide lines up.

Bottom line: Sunday the 19th is your go-to. Clean, manageable size, and the wind is your friend. Sunday the 2nd of August is a good long-range bet, but keep an eye on it. The rest of the run is either blown out or too big and messy to be any fun.

Rusty.

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