Darbys (Wilsons Promontory) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the menu for Darbys (Wilsons Promontory) over the next couple of weeks.

The good news is there’s no gap to start with; we’ve got waves coming in right from Wednesday afternoon. The pattern looks like a classic run of clean, smaller groundswell to kick things off, before a solid pulse of energy blows through over the weekend and into next week. The real standout is going to be that first session – Wednesday the 8th is your golden window.

The water’s sitting at 58°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year. Not a bad thing if you’re suited up right.

Wednesday the 8th, Wednesday afternoon is the pick of the whole outlook. We’ve got a clean 4 ft SW groundswell, and the period is a long 18 seconds – that’s proper energy, meaning good shape and long lulls between sets. The wind is light offshore from the east at just 3 mph, so the faces will be smooth. The combined energy is moderate (790), but the quality is there. It’s a consistent break, and while crowds are sometimes a thing, for a session this clean you might have to share. This is the one to point the car at.

Thursday the 9th starts off glassy with a northerly breeze and a smaller 3 ft SW swell (16-second period). Decent, clean, but smaller than Wednesday. Thursday afternoon goes glassy calm with a 2 ft SW swell – again, clean but tiny.

Friday the 10th is a mixed bag. The morning has a light cross-shore breeze, but the afternoon cleans up nicely with a southerly glass-off and a 3 ft SW swell (16-second period). It’s surfable and clean.

Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th are write-offs. Strong winds from the north and then a wicked westerly gale hit. Sunday morning sees the swell jump to 8 ft from the WSW, but with a 28 mph cross-onshore wind, it’s a complete mess (combined energy 2071). That’s expert-only if anyone’s silly enough, but it’s blown out. Sunday afternoon is worse with a 31 mph near-gale. Kite surfers might look at that wind, but for a paddle? No chance.

Monday the 13th and Tuesday the 14th stay big and ugly. The swell hangs around 7 ft to 8 ft, but winds are strong and cross-onshore. Tuesday morning has a massive combined energy of 4366 from a long-period SW groundswell, but the onshore wind ruins it.

Wednesday the 15th through Friday the 17th shows a steady drop in size. Wednesday the 15th morning has a 5 ft SW swell with a cross-offshore breeze from the SE – marginal but clean. By Friday the 17th, we’re back to a clean 3 ft SW swell (15-16 seconds) with light offshore easterly winds. It’s small, but clean and rideable for the beginner-friendly setup here.

Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th stay clean but tiny, with 2 ft to 2 ft SW swells and glassy or light offshore winds. Sunday afternoon has a very long 19-second period, which is beautiful for a point or reef, but at a beach break like this it might be a bit too straight.

Monday the 20th and Tuesday the 21st remain clean but small, with waist-high waves and light winds. Tuesday the 21st shows a slight bump to 4 ft WSW but with a moderate cross-offshore breeze.

Wednesday the 22nd sees the wind shift again, turning cross-shore and cross-onshore, with the swell picking up to 6 ft by afternoon – but the wind kills it. Thursday the 23rd has light onshore wind and small, messy waves.

So, to sum it up: lock in Wednesday the 8th afternoon for the best surf of the period – clean, long-period groundswell, and offshore breeze. Thursday the 9th and Friday the 10th afternoons are your back-up clean windows. After that, the big stuff is too windy, and the tail end is too small for anything special.

Rusty.

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