Cape Schanck Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright surfers, old Rusty here with a look at what's on the menu for Cape Schanck over the next couple of weeks. It's a bit of a mixed bag, so let's get into it.

The week starts off with some decent size, but the wind has other ideas. Sunday the 2nd of August has a solid 6ft SW groundswell, with a long 16-second period. The combined swell energy is a moderate 1744, so there's some grunt in the water. But that N wind is howling at 25 mph, blowing cross-offshore. It will keep the faces clean, but that's a stiff breeze to paddle against. The water is sitting at 57°, which is about average for this time of year. The afternoon offers much the same, just a touch smaller at 5ft.

Then we hit a rough stretch. From Monday the 3rd right through to Wednesday the 5th, it's a write-off. Rain showers and onshore winds will chop up any hope of a decent wave. We're looking at a real dud period. The swell drops right off on the Thursday morning the 6th, down to a feeble 2ft, but hold on... Thursday afternoon the wind goes glassy with a 3ft SW swell from the northwest at just 3 mph. It's small, but it's the only clean spell in a sea of crap. Worth a look if you're desperate for a paddle.

The real standout is Friday the 7th of August. We’ve got a solid 6ft+ SW groundswell with a 15-second period, packing a strong 1705 of combined energy. But the killer here is the wind: glassy, from the NNE at just 3 mph in the afternoon. This reef break will be absolutely firing, with lined-up sets and clean, peeling walls. For experienced surfers, this is the session to circle. Saturday the 8th is a consolation prize – still a clean 5ft+ from the SW under cross-offshore N winds, but the energy isn't as high and the wind is stronger at 18-22 mph.

After that, we get another lull. Sunday the 9th and Monday the 10th of August see some big, unruly swell. Monday morning is pumping a massive 10ft at 17 seconds, with a whopping 7829 of energy, but it's onshore from the SSW at 25 mph. That’s not for paddling; that’s a full-on storm surf, and for a reef break like Cape Schanck, it's dangerous and messy.

Things settle back into a pattern of marginal conditions through the second week. The 13th of August has a massive 13ft SW swell, but again the wind is cross-shore, making it lumpy. That's too big for anyone but experts anyway. The 14th and 15th of August have manageable 8ft and 6ft swells, but the wind is never truly clean, with onshore or cross-shore components messing with the surface. It’s a long-range promise that looks more solid than surfable right now. There's nothing in the second week that stands up to that Friday the 7th.

So, get on it this Friday, because the rest of the run is looking pretty bleak. There will be enough to keep the kooks busy, but not much for the connoisseur.

Rusty.

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