Cardiff Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve been staring at the charts for Cardiff Reef and, to be honest, it’s a pretty flat and frustrating run ahead. The whole 16-day window is a bit of a grind. We’ve got a long stretch coming up where the waves are just too small and weak to get excited about, with the first recommendation not kicking off until Thursday morning the 20th.

Let’s break it down. The swell energy is weak, sitting in the hundreds (323) on Thursday the 20th with a small 3ft SSW swell at 14 seconds. The wind is light but cross-onshore, so it’ll be a bit lumpy. That morning is the only real “maybe” with a score of 1 out of 10, which is the best we’ve got early on. The rest of that week and the next are filled with poor surf conditions—0s across the board—with tiny, weak swells of 2ft to 3ft and westerly offshore winds that aren’t doing much to help.

The water temperature anomaly is 0.0, so about average for the time of year.

There’s a small bump around Saturday the 29th of August and Sunday the 30th. The swell builds to 3ft to 4ft from the SSW, with a solid period of 16-17 seconds, and the energy jumps up into the moderate range (719 on Saturday afternoon). Winds are light westerly offshore or light cross-onshore, so conditions are actually pretty clean. This is the standout stretch. Cardiff Reef is a very consistent reef break, so it’ll be breaking. Expect crowds to be possible here on the weekend, but that’s a price worth paying for the best waves on offer. For the average surfer, that 3ft to 4ft is a fun size. Beginners can still get amongst it.

After that, it fades again into early September with weak 2ft to 3ft surf and some more marginal conditions.

So, if you’re keen, keep your eyes on that weekend of the 29th and 30th of August. That’s your best chance for a paddle. The long-period groundswell (over 15 seconds) will mean better-shaped waves with more energy, but longer lulls between sets. It’s a reef, so it should hold the swell well.

Rusty.

Read more