Depressions Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty, and I’ve been staring at the charts for Depressions. I gotta be straight with you – this one’s a tough stretch. We’re lookin’ at a solid 16-day window, but the first week is pretty much a write-off for a proper paddle. The water’s sitting at 71°, which is a solid 8° warmer than usual for this time of year – that’s a real standout, it’s weirdly warm.

Kicking off Tuesday, the 4th of August, we’ve got tiny swell, barely 2 ft from the WNW with a period of 9 seconds. The combined energy is weak (133), and the wind is a light onshore breeze creating messy, choppy surf. This trend sticks for days. Wednesday the 5th through to Saturday the 8th is all small, weak swells (1 ft to 1 ft) with cross-onshore or onshore wind, and the wave comment says it all: poor surf conditions. The only real positive is the water temperature anomaly, but that’s not helping the waves.

We finally get a small glimmer on Sunday the 9th of August, morning. The swell is still small at 2 ft from the SSW, with a period of 15 seconds – that’s long period groundswell, so it’ll have some push and shape. The combined energy is moderate (152). The best part? The wind goes glassy. That’s a major positive for clean conditions. The wave comment says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions,” so it’s not a classic, but for a Sunday morning with no wind, it’s the only session worth paddling out for. That afternoon, the wind swings onshore again, so get it early.

After that, it’s back to the same grind. Monday the 10th of August morning has a bigger energy reading (214) but it’s cross-onshore again. The afternoon gets a marginal call (271 energy), but it’s onshore. Tuesday the 11th through to the end of the window on the 19th of August is virtually all the same story: small swell, mostly 1 ft to 3 ft, onshore or cross-onshore winds, and the wave comments are either “poor” or “marginal.” The energy does build up a bit mid-month – Friday the 14th afternoon spikes to strong energy (435) from a 2 ft, 18 second SSW swell, but it’s cross-onshore, ruining the quality. Saturday the 15th morning has a 3 ft, 16 second swell with strong energy (358) and onshore wind, still not clean.

Honestly, for Depressions, there’s no standout day. The combination of tiny swell and persistent onshore/cross-onshore wind really kills the potential. If you’re a kite surfer, the higher wind days mid-month with that moderate energy might look interesting, but for a paddle surfer, it’s a rough run. The consistent light wind patterns mean the waves are constantly bumpy. The best bet is that glassy Sunday morning, the 9th of August. It’s not a world-class day, but it’s the only one where the conditions line up for a clean, small-wave session. Hang in there – forecasts can change.

Rusty.

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