Cunns Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty.

Let’s talk about what’s coming up at Cunns. This is a tricky reef break, one for the experienced crew, and it’s inconsistent, so it doesn’t fire all the time. But when it does, it’s a beauty. The water’s sitting at 60°F, which is about average for this time of year, nothing unusual.

We’ve got a bit of a wait for the first real action. The forecast kicks off on Tuesday the 4th of August with a small, clean pulse. It’s only 3 ft from the SW, with a long 15-second period, and the wind is light and cross-off from the NE. That’s a glassy, clean setup. The combined energy is moderate at 364. It’s not big, but the conditions are pristine. That’s your sneaky good window for a quiet session, especially if you want to avoid the crowds that can show up here.

Wednesday the 5th is a bit of a mess. The swell picks up to 4 ft from the SW, with a very long 18-second period, but the wind swings around and goes cross and cross-on, so the surface gets chopped up. The energy jumps to 722, but the quality is marginal. Thursday the 6th is a proper standout. Morning has offshore E breeze at 10 km/h, with a clean 4 ft SW swell at 16 seconds. The energy is moderate at 581. The afternoon cleans up even more with a cross-off SSE wind, solid 4 ft SW swell, and energy climbing to 916. This is the best of the first week—clean, lined up, and begging for a reef wave.

Then things get wild. From Friday the 7th through to Sunday the 16th of August, it’s a long stretch of poor conditions. The wind turns onshore or cross-onshore, blowing 12 to 31 mph, and the swell gets big—blowing up to 13 ft by Monday the 10th, with a crazy combined energy of 11,990. That’s way too much juice for this spot, and the wind is howling. It’s blown out, lumpy, and messy. Beginners stay well away, and even experts will find it a battle. This stretch is more for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The light finally appears on Friday the 14th of August. The afternoon shows a clean cross-off breeze from the SSE, with a 6 ft SW swell, 17-second period, and energy of 1,972. It’s excellent for experienced surfers, but the swell is still sizeable. That’s a promising one. Then again on Monday the 17th of August, the afternoon shapes up with a clean cross-off wind, 6 ft SW swell at 16 seconds, and energy of 1,548. Another solid window for the confident crew.

The rest of the fortnight after that is a mix of onshore winds and choppy conditions, nothing to get excited about. So mark your calendar for Thursday the 6th of August for the cleanest, most manageable swell, and keep an eye on the 14th and 17th for the bigger, cleaner groundswell.

Rusty.

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