Cape Schanck Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty.

We’ve got a pretty wild 16-day stretch ahead for Cape Schanck. The opening days are a write-off—nothing but lumpy, onshore junk and no real surf to speak of. You’re looking at a solid four-day gap with zero recommendations from Monday the 3rd through Thursday the 6th. Honestly, it’s best to find something else to do. The water temp is sitting at 57°F, which is about normal for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Then Friday the 7th rolls around and we finally get a pulse. The morning is still messy, with a cross-on breeze and a building 6ft SW swell. But the afternoon is the first real standout. The wind swings around to a light NE offshore, the surf cleans right up, and we’ve got a solid 5ft SW groundswell at 15 seconds. The combined energy is pumping at 1631. It’s still not for the faint-hearted—Cape Schanck is an advanced reef—but for the experienced crew, this is the pick of the first week. The consistency is reliable, and the offshore breeze will have it looking glassy.

Saturday the 8th holds some size, but the fresh northerly cross-off wind won’t do it any favors. It’s surfable, but not special. Then Sunday the 9th gets blown out by a near gale, and the swell drops right off.

After that, we have another quiet spell. Monday the 10th and Tuesday the 11th are mostly poor, though the 11th does see a big jump in size—12ft SW—but it’s lumpy and cross-shore. Not clean. Wednesday the 12th is similar, still overpowered and messy. Thursday the 13th pushes through some seriously heavy 15ft SW swell, but it’s onshore and all over the shop. This is big, raw power for experts only, if anyone’s silly enough.

Now, here’s the one to circle on the calendar. Friday the 14th of August. We get a 12ft SW groundswell at 19 seconds, and the wind is only a gentle cross-shore. The energy reading is massive at 9491—this is a serious, long-period pulse. It’s going to be a proper, grinding reef break. It’s still big, so this is for advanced surfers, but the long period will make it suck harder and hold up on the reef. This is the standout of the whole window. I’d be making plans for this one if I were you.

Saturday the 15th is still fun. The swell backs down to 7ft, and a light offshore in the morning keeps it clean. A good option if the 14th is too hairy. But the wind on it late, and Sunday the 16th goes onshore again.

We finish the run on Tuesday the 18th. The morning is small, but the afternoon brings a glassy 6ft SW swell with no wind at all. That’s another clean, fun session for the experienced surfer, and a nice way to close things out. The long-range stuff is promising, but as always, a week and a half out, treat it with a bit of caution.

Overall, the two standouts are Friday the 14th for the big, grinding groundswell, and Friday the 7th afternoon for the first clean session of the run.

Rusty out.

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