Curral Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve gotta be straight with you – this outlook is a tough one. The entire 16-day window from now through to Thursday the 3rd of September is a real struggle for surf at Curral. There’s no standout session, no hidden gem, just a long, drawn-out run of poor surf conditions. The swell is coming in from the east, mostly between 4 ft and 6 ft, but the period is short – 6 to 8 seconds – so it’s weak, windswell stuff, not the kind of groundswell that gets your heart pumping. The combined energy sits in the low to mid hundreds, ranging from 121 to 320, which is weak to moderate at best, and it’s being completely blown out by a relentless east-southeast breeze.

The water temperature is 81°, which is about 2° warmer than average for this time of year – feels like a warm bath, but the waves just aren’t there to enjoy it.

Let’s walk through it. From Wednesday the 19th right through to the end of the month, it’s the same story: cross-offshore winds in the mornings, but the swell is poor and the wind picks up in the afternoons, turning into a fresh cross-onshore mess. Thursday morning the 20th, the swell is 5 ft from the east, period 7 seconds, but the wind is 16 mph from the southeast, making it cross-off and clean-looking, but the wave comment says it all – poor surf conditions. It’s just not working. Friday the 21st morning is the only time you’ll see a score of 1 out of 10, with some clouds and a 5 ft swell from the east, but it’s still marginal. The rest of the stretch is a solid zero.

The point break at Curral is rated as a beginner spot, fairly consistent, but you wouldn’t know it from this forecast. The optimum swell direction is from the north, but we’re getting east and east-northeast all the way through, which is off-angle. The wind state is never pure offshore – it’s cross, cross-off, or cross-on, and the afternoons are just lumpy and choppy. If you’re not fussed about quality, the mornings might be clean to the eye, but the waves are weak and short-period.

This is a blank run. There’s no surf worth paddling out for. The setup at Curral is a beach-and-reef point, so with the constant east wind and small, weak swell, it’s actually more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The wind is strong enough, but the waves are just poor.

Stay patient, and keep an eye on the forecasts – it can’t stay this bad forever.

Rusty.

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