Clovelly Bombie Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. We’ve got a bit of a mixed bag coming up over the next couple of weeks. There’s a decent pulse of ENE swell early on, but it fades fast, and then we’re looking at a long quiet spell before a solid SSE groundswell shows up in the second week. The standout is definitely that Sunday morning session on the 2nd of August, but we’ll get to that.

The only spot on the radar is Clovelly Bombie (reef), and it’s an inconsistent, advanced wave. It’s exposed to the ENE swell, which is the direction it likes best. Water temps are sittin’ around 63°, which is about average for this time of year, nothing weird going on there.

The first real surf kicks off Sunday the 19th of July, but it’s a write-off – cross-on SE breeze at 6 mph, 6 ft of ENE swell with a 10-second period, and the combined energy is moderate at 658. The conditions are marginal, so I’d give it a miss.

Come Monday morning the 20th of July, that’s when things get interesting. The swell still holds at 6 ft from the ENE, period stretches to 11 seconds, and the wind swings WNW at 6 mph, giving a clean cross-off. The combined energy is still moderate at 640, and the wave comment says “expect very good surf conditions.” This is a solid window for a paddle – not too big, clean, and the longer period means more energy wrapping into the reef. The afternoon goes to crap with a NE wind picking up to 12 mph, so get in early.

Tuesday the 21st has a similar pattern – morning clean with a NNW cross-off and 4 ft of ENE swell, 10-second period, combined energy dropping to 321. It’s fun, but smaller. The afternoon again gets wrecked by a 12 mph NE onshore. Wednesday the 22nd sees offshore WSW wind at 9 mph, but the swell has dropped to 3 ft, period still 10 seconds, and energy is down to 175. It’s surfable, but ordinary.

From Thursday the 23rd of July right through to the end of the month, it’s poor. The swell fades to tiny heights – 2 ft, 1 ft, 1.0 ft, even 0.3 ft – and the combined energy drops into the two-digit figures (80, 32, 18, 7, etc.). There’s a long gap of about a week with nothing worth paddling for. The wind is offshore most days, but you can’t surf what isn’t there.

Now here’s the real standout. On Sunday the 2nd of August, the morning brings a 10 ft SSE swell with an 11-second period, combined energy at a whopping 1737 – that’s strong wave energy. The wind is NW at 9 mph, giving a clean cross-off, and the wave comment says “excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers.” This is a proper big groundswell. At 10 ft, it’s only for experts, and the long period (11 seconds) at a reef like Clovelly Bombie should set up well. The afternoon gets a cross-on ENE breeze that messes it up, but that morning session is the one to circle.

Monday the 3rd of August has leftover energy at 6 ft from the SSE, but with a 25 mph SSW wind, it’s blown out. The afternoon is still messy with 22 mph southerlies. Not worth it.

Overall, the best of the bunch is the Monday morning the 20th of July and the Sunday morning the 2nd of August. That Sunday 2nd August session is the big one – big swell, clean, and the reef will handle it. The long gap in between is a bit of a bummer, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Rusty.

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