Church Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break this one down. Rusty here.

Starting off at Church Cove. This is a southwest-facing little beginner-friendly cove, but it’s inconsistent, so you gotta be ready to wait. Water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual.

First few days are a real bummer. Tuesday the 28th – we’ve got about 3ft swell from the WNW, period around 9 seconds, so it’s short-period windswell. Combined swell energy is weak, around 144. Wind is cross-onshore from the south, making it choppy. Not worth it.

Wednesday the 29th – even smaller, around 2ft, period drops to 8 seconds, energy down to 77. Still cross-onshore. Thursday the 30th – swell bumps to about 4ft but period plummets to 6 seconds – junk. Energy hits 247 but cross-shore wind keeps it choppy. Poor.

Friday morning the 31st – finally a clean moment. Swell small at 3ft, period 7 seconds, energy 79, but the wind goes light from the north-northwest, giving us a cross-offshore flow. Conditions are clean. Still small and inconsistent, so bring a longboard. Afternoon gets blown out again.

Then we hit a real dry spell. Saturday the 1st through Monday the 10th of August – most days see swell between 1ft and 2ft, periods 8 to 11 seconds. Energy stays in the teens and twenties. A few mornings have clean conditions – like Sunday the 2nd (NE offshore, 2ft) and Monday the 3rd (ESE cross-off, 2ft) – but it’s tiny. That’s a solid week and a half of nearly nothing.

Then things pick up. Monday the 10th of August – swell climbs to 2ft in the morning, 3ft in the afternoon, period 9-10 seconds, energy jumping to 107 and 118. But the wind is moderate cross-onshore to onshore from the south-southwest. Conditions are poor.

Now for the highlight. Tuesday the 11th of August – we get a real swell. Morning: 5ft from the southwest, period 8 seconds, energy 288. Afternoon: 7ft from the southwest, same short period, energy 541. This is moderate wave energy, but the wind is cross-onshore from the south, so it’s choppy. Too big for beginners (over 5ft).

But Wednesday the 12th of August is the standout. Morning: 8ft from the west-southwest, period 8 seconds, energy 709 – strong wave energy. Wind goes light from the northwest, giving us a light cross-shore. Conditions are only marginal with some cross-chop, but this is the best look in the whole 16 days. At 8ft, it’s strictly for experienced surfers. Crowds are “sometimes” here, so you might see a few others, but with the inconsistency, it shouldn’t be packed.

So, bottom line: there’s a long stretch of tiny, poor surf from late July into the second week of August. Your best bet is Wednesday the 12th of August morning at Church Cove – 8ft from the WSW with light cross-shore wind. It’s a late call, so keep an eye on it, but it’s the only real highlight. Don’t hold your breath before then.

Rusty.

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