Caves (Sandsend) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve got to be straight with you—this stretch for Caves (Sandsend) is looking pretty bleak. We’ve got a full 16-day run on the table, but honestly, there’s no stand-out surf on offer. The whole period is filled with “poor surf conditions” across every session, and the swell heights barely tickle 3 ft on the best days. The combined wave energy stays low to moderate at best, maxing out around 100 (moderate energy) on Saturday afternoon the 18th, but that’s paired with onshore wind, so it’s messy.

Let’s start from the beginning. Sunday 5 July has almost nothing—swell at 0.3 ft from the north with a weak 6-second period and energy of just 1. Winds are offshore, but there’s no wave to surf. Monday 6 July sees a slight bump: morning shows 1 ft from the northwest, 5-second period, energy at 6, and offshore WNW winds. It’s clean but tiny—not enough to paddle for. Tuesday 7 July is similar: 0.7-1.0 ft, north swell, periods 7-10 seconds, energy up to 22 Tuesday afternoon with offshore winds. Still, the wave comment says poor, and I’d agree—waist-high at best on a good set.

Wednesday 8 July has morning offshore breezes and 1 ft from the north, energy 26, but by afternoon the wind swings east onshore and kills it. Thursday 9 July through Monday 13 July stays in the doldrums: swell heights 0.7-2 ft, periods 5-8 seconds, energy bouncing between 5 and 39. Most winds are cross-shore or onshore, with a glassy moment on Tuesday 14 July morning (2 ft, NE 6-second swell, energy 20) but the swell is too weak and short-period to do anything.

The second week doesn’t offer much hope. Wednesday 15 July has a brief offshore window with 0.7-1.0 ft, but energy is only 3-7. Thursday 16 July morning has 2 ft from NNE with cross-off winds and energy at 19—still poor. Friday 17 July is back to almost nothing. Then Saturday 18 July morning is glassy with 3 ft north swell, 7-second period, energy 64—the cleanest looking window, but the swell is still small and weak. That afternoon jumps to 3 ft from the north, energy 100, but east-southeast winds at 20 km/h blow it out. Sunday 19 July through Monday 20 July have offshore or cross-off winds with 2-3 ft swell, periods 6-7 seconds, energy up to 59, but the wave comment stays “poor surf conditions” across the board.

This point break is inconsistent and rarely breaks well in these conditions. The north swell direction matches the optimum, but the size never gets above 3 ft, so it’s barely rideable for intermediates. There’s nothing here for beginners or experts. Honestly, if there’s any setup that looks more interesting, it might be for kite surfing on the bigger wind days, not paddle surfing. The water temperature anomaly isn’t given, so we’ll skip that. For now, Caves is a flat spell—hang in there, forecasts can change.

Rusty

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