Cowries Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s cut straight to it. The next 16 days are a real mixed bag for Cowries. The opening stretch, from the 13th through the 26th, is mostly small and pretty average. There’s a bit of push at times, but the swell direction is all over the shop and the energy is weak to moderate at best. It’s not going to be flat, but it’s going to be a grind. The one standout in the whole window is right at the tail end, on the 28th, when a proper pulse of south swell lines up. That’s the one to circle on the calendar. Outside of that, you’re looking at a lot of knee-to-waist-high slop with a few better moments.

Right, let’s walk through it day by day.

Thursday the 13th kicks off with a clean, surfable 4ft south swell, 9-second period. Combined energy is weak to moderate at 221. Wind is light offshore, so it’ll be tidy, but it’s nothing to get too excited about. The water temp is 64°F, which is about average for this time of year, so you won’t need the thickest suit, but it’s not warm either.

Friday the 14th is glassy in the morning with 3ft on tap, but the period drops to 8 seconds. It’s surfable, but ordinary. The afternoon turns cross-on and a bit lumpy.

The weekend gets a little more size but loses the quality. Saturday the 15th sees 5ft with a cross-off wind that keeps it clean-ish, but the period is a weak 7 seconds. Same story for Sunday the 16th, with 5ft in the morning, but it’s a short-period, cross-shore mess. It’s peaky, but not in a good way. I’d rather wait for the tide to do something interesting.

From the 17th through the 26th, it’s a long, drawn-out stretch of small surf. There are a couple of mornings with glassy conditions, like Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th, with 3ft and 4ft respectively, but the swell is coming from the east-southeast with periods of just 6 seconds. That’s pure windswell and it’s going to be soft and gutless. The combined energy drops off a cliff during this stretch, dipping below 100 and even into the 30s and 40s. There’s a little bump on the 24th with 3ft and a 9-second period, and the wind is offshore, so it’ll be clean, but it’s tiny. This is a waiting game. A lot of paddling for not a lot of love.

Then, just when you think it’s a dead loss, the 27th rolls in. A strong breeze from the south-west arrives, and the swell jumps up to 4ft with a 9-second period. It’s clean due to the cross-off wind, but the energy is getting serious at 307. It’s still a poor call for quality, though.

The real standout is Friday the 28th. This is the one. The swell builds to 5ft with a south direction and a longer 11-second period. The combined energy jumps to a solid 642, which is strong, and the wind, while fresh and cross-off, leaves it clean. This is proper groundswell energy hitting the reef and point. The period is up, the size is there, and it’s coming from the south, which is the optimum direction for Cowries. This is the day. The wind is a bit fresh but offshore enough to hold it together. Expect some proper sets and a lot more power than anything we’ve seen in the previous two weeks. It’s a long-range call, so don’t book the time off just yet, but this one has real potential. After that, the energy eases off on the afternoon, but the morning is the window.

So, bottom line: for the next two weeks, you’re chasing small, clean leftovers. If you’re a beginner, the lack of size is your friend, but for the rest of us, it’s a fight for a mediocre wave. The only day that gets the blood pumping is Friday the 28th, and that’s the one to keep an eye on. It’s a long way out, but it’s got the ingredients.

Rusty out.

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