Depressions Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are going to test your patience if you’re chasing waves at Depressions. The outlook is pretty grim for the most part, with a long stretch of weak, short-period junk and onshore breezes making things messy. There’s a real gap in quality here, and we’re looking at a lot of flat, lumpy days before anything even remotely rideable shows up. Water temp is sitting around 71°F, which is a solid 7°F warmer than usual for this time of year – that’s a big deal, so you won’t need the thick rubber, just your patience.

From Saturday the 15th through to the middle of next week, it’s a write-off. We’ve got small 2ft south-southwest swells but they’re coming in at a period of 16 seconds, which sounds nice, but the energy is weak and the wind is either light onshore or cross-onshore, making for bumpy, uninviting conditions. Sunday and Monday aren’t any better, with the swell dropping to 2ft and the period sliding down to 14 seconds. Combine that with the moderate cross-onshore winds on Monday afternoon and it’s just a lot of paddle for nothing. The surf quality is poor for most of these sessions, and honestly, you’d get more exercise walking the beach.

Tuesday the 18th gives us a brief tease of a 3ft west-northwest swell, but the period is a poor 8 seconds. That’s short-period windswell, meaning it’s going to be crumbly and disorganised. The energy is still unimpressive, and even with the light onshore wind, it’s only marginal. Not worth the drive.

We then slide into a proper flat spell. From the 19th through the 24th, the waves are consistently below 2ft, mostly in the 1ft to 2ft range, with periods between 13 and 18 seconds. The energy numbers are low, and the wind, while light, is still onshore. This is the dead zone – almost a week of nothing to surf. There are no standouts here, no hidden gems. It’s just a blank run.

Now, looking further out, there’s a glimmer of something. Around the 24th into the 25th, the energy starts to build. On Monday afternoon the 24th, the combined energy jumps, and by Tuesday morning the 25th, we’ve got a 3ft south-southeast swell, with a 15-second period and a solid energy reading. The wind is light and offshore, which is exactly what we want to see. This is the best looking window, but it’s still only marginal. The swell direction from the southeast is not the optimum for this break, which prefers west-southwest, so it might not be lining up perfectly, but it’s the first time you’ll actually feel some push. The afternoon on the 25th pushes to 4ft, but the wind swings cross-on, chopping it up a touch.

The 26th and 27th keep things alive, with 4ft swells from the south-southeast and south, periods around 13-14 seconds, and solid energy. Again, the morning windows have light offshore winds, looking cleaner, while afternoons get a bit cross-on. This is a promising patch, but it's still not rating as a true standout – just the least bad option.

By the 28th and into the 29th, the swell fades back down to 2ft, with the period dropping to 12 seconds and energy fading. The wind picks up again on the 28th afternoon to a moderate 12 mph cross-onshore, so that window closes pretty quick. The final days of the month look like more of the same – small, weak, and a bit lumpy.

So here’s the bottom line. The only real window to get wet is around the 25th to the 27th, with the swell pushing 3ft to 4ft from the southeast. It’s not going to blow your mind, but it’s the most it’s going to do all stretch. Depressions is a fairly consistent break, but this run is proving why it’s not always a sure thing. The water is weirdly warm, the waves are mostly missing, and we’ll have to grind through a lot of flat days. Keep an eye on the 25th, but don’t hold your breath. This is Rusty, signing off.

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