Cintsa West Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right then, let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for Cintsa West. This is a point break that’s exposed to the swell, but it’s an inconsistent spot so you can’t take it for granted. It prefers the swell coming from the southeast, which is a key thing to keep in mind.

Straight up, the next few days are pretty grim. Wednesday the 16th through to Friday the 18th is a write-off – poor surf conditions with lumpy, choppy water and cross-shore winds. You’d be fighting the wind and the tide more than catching a wave. The combined swell energy is moderate, hovering around 600 to over 1000 (640–1128), but it’s all for nothing with the wind state.

Saturday the 19th is still rough, with a 8ft swell but cross-onshore winds making it choppy. Not worth it. Sunday the 20th is where we start seeing a glimmer. The morning is still marginal with moderate energy (1161), but Sunday afternoon... now that’s looking special. The wind goes glassy, with a 6ft swell from the ESE and a period of 9 seconds. That’s clean, glassy surf with very good conditions. The combined energy drops to 819, but that glassy wind is the real prize. This is likely the standout session in the entire outlook – keep that Sunday arvo window locked in.

Monday the 21st has a little clean surf in the morning with a light cross-offshore breeze, but it’s smaller at 4ft. The rest of that week is marginal at best, with onshore breezes and small, short-period waves.

Then we get to Thursday the 24th. The swell jumps to 12ft from the SSE, but the wind is howling onshore at 19 mph with fresh cross-onshore lumpy conditions. That’s a mess. Good for kite surfers, not for paddling. Combined energy is huge (1905–2315) but completely wasted on the wind.

Now, here’s the other real standout... Friday the 25th morning. The swell is a solid 8ft from the SE, period 9 seconds, and the wind flips to a light cross-offshore from the NNE. The conditions are described as excellent for experienced surfers. Combined energy is 2170 – strong wave energy. This is big, powerful surf, over 8ft, so it’s only for the experts. But if you’ve got the skills, that Friday morning is one for the books. The swell direction is also a good match for the optimum SE direction.

After that, the weekend of the 26th and 27th drops back to marginal conditions with cross-shore winds and shorter periods. The last week of September and into October sees a persistent 10ft swell from the east, but the wind is mostly cross-shore or cross-onshore, keeping things lumpy and just marginal. The combined energy stays high (1036–1728) but the quality isn’t there.

So, your two true standouts: Sunday the 20th afternoon for that glassy, clean 6ft surf, and Friday the 25th morning for the expert-level, powerful 8ft swell with clean offshore-ish wind. Grab them while you can, this break doesn’t fire often.

Rusty.

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