Church Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at the coming swell window for Church Cove.

Alright, straight up – the next week and a half is gonna be pretty grim for a paddle. We’ve got a real long stretch of poor conditions, starting Friday the 11th with a 5ft west swell at 9 seconds – but there’s a messy cross-shore wind and the whole thing’s rated as marginal, with combined energy just moderate (430). That’s about as good as it gets until way down the track. Saturday the 12th through to Monday the 21st is basically a write-off: onshore winds, cross-onshore breezes, and fresh cross-shore lumps at times, all with scores that say “poor surf conditions.” A few mornings like the 18th and 19th have some size – 5ft to 7ft west swell – but the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, and the wave comment keeps saying marginal or poor. Not worth getting wet.

There’s a real standout window that opens up on Monday the 21st of September. Monday morning we get a clean 4ft west swell at a solid 12 seconds, with a moderate offshore wind from the northeast. Conditions are clean, combined energy is moderate (739), and the wave comment says “expect very good surf conditions.” That’s the first real chance for a decent session in almost two weeks. Tuesday the 22nd stays clean with a light offshore breeze through the afternoon, but the swell drops to 3ft. Wednesday the 23rd morning serves up 8ft west swell at a short 7 seconds – clean, but the period’s a bit junky for the size.

The absolute standout though – and I mean, this is the one to circle on your calendar – is Friday the 25th of September. Friday afternoon we’ve got a 10ft west-southwest swell with a 10-second period, clean conditions with light east cross-offshore wind, and the combined energy is strong (3265). The wave comment reads “excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers.” That one’s only for the crew who know what they’re doing – over 8ft and it’s expert territory. Saturday the 26th morning holds similar size, 10ft west swell at 10 seconds, clean and light offshore, with strong energy (1889). Another great call for the experienced.

Church Cove itself is inconsistent – it doesn’t fire often, so when it does, you gotta be on it. It’s fairly exposed to southwest swells, which lines up nicely with the bigger days. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, no major anomalies to report. Crowds are possible here sometimes, but on those standouts, expect a few locals in the know to be out.

The gap between now and that first decent Monday the 21st is about 10 days of poor conditions. Once that offshore breeze kicks in, we get a clean run of waves right through to the end of the 16-day window.

Stay patient, Church Cove will deliver.

Rusty

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