Deadman's Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cookin' at Deadman's over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, Deadman's is a reef setup that's pretty exposed to the southwest swell window but, as the name might hint, it's an inconsistent spot. It doesn't fire all that often, so you've gotta be patient. For the first ten days or so, it's a bit of a grim picture. We're looking at a long stretch of marginal to poor conditions. There's a bit of swell around, but the wind is mostly a moderate to fresh cross-shore, which just kills any chance of a decent wave face. The combined swell energy is moderate, sitting around the 1000 mark, but the quality just isn't there to make it worth a paddle.

Tuesday the 7th through to Sunday the 12th is pretty much a write-off. We're talking knee-high to waist-high slop with a cross-chop that'll have you hating life. The water temp is sitting at 54° — that's about average for the time of year, so nothing wild to report. The surf just isn't calling out to anyone.

It's not really until we get to Thursday the 17th of July that things start to look interesting. Thursday morning still looks marginal with a small, long-period groundswell from the WNW (17 seconds, 3 ft). The energy is moderate (1041), but the real standout window opens up on Friday the 17th afternoon. The wind goes dead calm, we're talking glassy conditions with a solid 7 ft of NW swell. That's solidly in the "experts only" territory — too big for beginners. The combined energy jumps up to a strong 1170. That afternoon is the first real gem on offer.

Then Saturday the 18th morning is the absolute peak of the outlook. The swell pushes to 8 ft from the NW with a period of 9 seconds, which is a big, powerful wave. The water is completely glassy, with a light offshore wind. The combined energy is a mighty 2299, the strongest in the period. This is the standout session for experienced surfers only. The reef will be handling that NW swell beautifully, but that size is serious; you need to know what you're doing.

Looking further out, there are a couple more promising windows. Tuesday the 21st afternoon and Wednesday the 22nd both show glassy conditions with solid 7 ft NW swell and the energy is strong (1141 & 1126). These are also for the experienced crew, but they look cleaner than anything we've seen all week. As always, with a forecast that far out, they're promising but you'll want to check back closer to the time.

Bottom line: there's a lot of flatness and wind to sit through, but the 17th afternoon through the 22nd has some serious, clean, powerful waves for those willing to wait. Don't bother before that.

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