Church Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on offer for Church Cove over the next couple of weeks.

First up, the water is sitting at 67°F which is a good couple of degrees warmer than usual for this time of year – a real treat if you're heading in.

Now, for the surf itself... I won't sugarcoat it; this is a tough stretch. We're looking at a solid week and a half of pretty poor conditions. From Wednesday the 12th all the way through to the weekend of the 23rd, there's really nothing worth paddling out for. You'll see small, weak swells (combined energy often well under 200), mostly cross or onshore winds, and the wave comment is consistently "poor surf conditions." It’s a frustrating run of onshores and lumpy chop. The 15th and 16th have clean conditions but only tiny 2ft to 3ft west swell with periods of 7-8 seconds, just not enough push to do much on.

We finally see a flicker of life on the morning of Monday the 24th of August. We’ve got a bit of a lift with a 7ft W swell, period of 8 seconds, and the wind turns light ESE at 15 km/h, giving us a clean, cross-off breeze. The combined energy jumps to 662, which is moderate but finally some real oomph. That said, this is a short-period swell, so it won't have the punch of a groundswell, and at 7ft it's getting into the zone that's only for experienced surfers. Church Cove is an inconsistent spot that rarely pumps, so this being the one standout in a 16-day window is notable. The swell direction is WSW, which matches the optimum SW direction pretty closely.

Don't get too excited about the afternoon of the 24th, as the wind swings and it gets a bit lumpy again. The rest of the week after that drops off quickly back into small, choppy slop.

Honestly, the real standout here is Monday morning the 24th of August. It’s your only shot at something with proper size and clean conditions, but it's a long way out, so keep an eye on it. Before that, save your energy.

- Rusty

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