Cunns Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve got the rundown for the next couple of weeks at Cunns (reef). This is a reef break that’s exposed to SW swells and needs a clean offshore to really fire, and it’s an advanced spot—not one for learners, especially when it gets big. The water temp is sitting at 60°, which is about average for this time of year, so nothing weird going on there.

The overall pattern? We’ve got a slow, choppy start before a proper solid pulse of SW groundswell rolls in around the 10th of August, and that’s the clear standout. Before that, there’s a lot of onshore and cross-shore wind messing things up, with long gaps of poor conditions. Let’s break it down.

Wednesday the 29th of July and Thursday the 30th—there’s some SW swell around, 7 ft dropping to 5 ft, with a very long period of 15 seconds, so that’s proper groundswell energy (combined energy around 2027 to 784). Winds are cross-off though, not straight offshore, and conditions are called “marginal.” There’s a bit of life but not worth paddling out for the fuss. Thursday afternoon gets cleaner with a lighter breeze (581 energy), but it’s still cross-off.

Friday the 31st to Sunday the 2nd of August is a write-off. Swell drops way down to 3 ft to 5 ft, but the winds are cross or cross-on from the north and southwest, with a fresh breeze kicking up chop. Scores are poor, so save your energy. The combined energy stays under 1000, so don’t expect much push.

Now, Monday the 3rd of August—this is a little glimmer. Still 5 ft SW swell with a period of 13–14 seconds, but Monday morning is glassy. I mean, dead flat water—3 mph easterly breeze, glassy conditions, and the waves are clean. The combined energy is 978, moderate, but the quality is there for a few hours. Monday afternoon stays clean with a cross-off. That’s your best window in this first week, but it’s not huge—just a solid, clean wave.

Then we hit a block from Tuesday the 4th of August right through to Sunday the 9th. Winds are all over the shop—north, northwest, northeast—mostly cross-on or strong cross-shore. Swell stays around 2 ft to 5 ft, but the energy is moderate at best (411–1150). On top of that, the conditions are lumpy, choppy, or onshore. It’s a stretch of nearly six days where it’s not worth it.

But here’s the payoff. Monday the 10th of August—this is the one to circle. A new SW swell pulses up to 10 ft, with a period of 14–15 seconds, and the combined energy is huge: 3220–4060. That’s strong to very strong. And the wind? Glassy in the morning, then a light offshore from the SSE in the afternoon. This is excellent for experienced surfers only—over 8 ft is expert territory. The reef setup should handle that long-period groundswell well, giving proper shaped waves with longer gaps between sets. This is the standout.

Tuesday the 11th of August—still a solid 10 ft SW swell with 16-second period and energy over 3800, but the wind swings to a fresh cross-shore from the NNE at 19 mph, bringing lumpy chop. It’s powerful but messy, so only for the keen and strong paddler.

Wednesday the 12th through Thursday the 13th—the swell eases from 8 ft down to 6 ft, but winds are onshore or strong cross-onshore from the northwest and southwest, up to 22–25 mph. Combined energy drops from 2948 to 1488, but it’s lumpy and poor. Thursday afternoon has a cross-shore wind and lumpy conditions, still not clean.

So, bottom line: Monday the 3rd of August morning is the sneaky clean session for the first week, but the real deal is Monday the 10th of August—that’s when Cunns shows its teeth with a big, clean, long-period SW groundswell. Just be ready for the size.

Rusty.

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