Cintsa West Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s coming for Cintsa West.

Alright, over the next few weeks, we’ve got a mixed bag. The surf starts off pretty average, and there’s a long stretch of nothing too special in the middle. The real standout is a solid pulse of swell later on, but we’ve got to get through a lot of marginal days first.

Right now, Cintsa West is the only spot on the cards. On Saturday the 5th, we’ve got a small 4 ft swell from the south with a period of 11 seconds, but it’s a cross-shore wind from the ENE at 9 mph, and the water is sitting at 66°F, which is about 2°F cooler than normal for this time of year – nothing to write home about. The combined energy is weak at 560, and the conditions are just marginal. Not worth paddling out for.

The next few days don’t improve much. Sunday the 6th has a bigger 5 ft SSW swell in the afternoon, but the energy is strong at 2309, and the wind is cross-on from the east at 9 mph, making it choppy. The whole week up to around the 11th is a write-off – poor surf, poor conditions, and the wind just doesn’t line up.

From the 12th to the 14th, we see some bigger swell push through, like 7 ft to 10 ft, but the wind is either cross-on or fresh, and the periods are short (7 to 9 seconds), so it’s messy and lumpy. A 10 ft wave with a 9-second period on the 13th is just a washing machine – that’s for experts only, and even then, it’s not clean.

The real bright spot comes on Saturday the 19th of September. The morning shows a solid 10 ft swell from the east, with a 9-second period and a combined energy of 3066 – that’s strong wave energy. The wind is light and cross-shore from the ENE at 9 mph, so it’s going to be lumpy but rideable. This is the best on offer across the whole run. The swell is big, so it’s not for beginners, but for experienced surfers, it’s the biggest and most consistent day we’ve got. The optimum direction is SE, so this east swell is a bit off, but the size makes up for it.

Sunday the 20th still has decent 5 ft swell from the east with a 10-second period, and it’s clean with a cross-off wind from the NNE at 9 mph. That’s a nice little session to finish the run.

Overall, it’s a pretty lean period. The first week is mostly forgettable, and the second week has a couple of big, messy days. The standout is definitely the 19th – it’s the one to circle on the calendar. Crowds are sometimes an issue here, so if you’re out on that Saturday morning, you might have some company.

Rusty.

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