Diamond Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – this outlook for Diamond Beach is a tough one. We’re looking at a long, drawn-out run of tiny, weak surf and challenging conditions. There’s no real stand-out session in the whole 16-day window, but we’ll walk through what’s on offer.

The first surf we can talk about is on Monday afternoon, August 17. It’s tiny, with a 1ft swell from the SSE, but the wind is a gentle cross-offshore from the WNW, so it’s clean. The energy is weak (15), and the period is short at 5 seconds, so it’s just small, weak lumps. Water temp is 77°, which feels a touch warmer than normal for this time of year.

Moving through the week, it’s more of the same. Tuesday morning August 18 sees similar 1ft SSE swell with light cross-off winds, still clean but tiny. Tuesday afternoon gets a bit of onshore wind, so it gets messy. Wednesday August 19 has a 1ft SE swell with a slightly longer 10-second period, but the wind is cross-offshore in the morning (clean) and then turns cross-onshore in the afternoon, making it choppy.

Thursday August 20 is smaller again – 0.7ft – with onshore winds and a risk of thunderstorms. Friday August 21 offers a slight bump: morning has 1ft SSE swell with cross-off wind, and the afternoon jumps to 3ft from the ENE, still cross-off and clean. The energy is still weak (33), but it’s the biggest swell we see in the first week. That afternoon window on Friday 21 is probably the best of the early period, but it’s still very ordinary.

Then we hit a rough patch. Saturday August 22 through to Sunday August 30 sees stronger winds, mostly cross or cross-shore, with swell staying between 0.7ft and 3ft. On Saturday 22, winds hit 19 mph from the NE, creating lumpy cross-chop – not good. Sunday August 23 afternoon goes glassy with 2ft S swell, but it’s still weak. Monday August 24 morning is clean with 2ft SSE swell and offshore wind, but again, tiny.

There’s a slight uptick on Thursday August 27: the swell builds to 2ft from the SE with a moderate 11-12 second period, and the energy hits moderate (153). Winds are cross-offshore and clean. This is the strongest energy we see, but the wave height is still small. Still, for an experienced surfer, it might offer a few better-shaped lines, though the period means longer gaps between sets. This is the closest we get to a highlight, but it’s not a standout by any stretch.

Friday August 28 morning is the only session with a rating of “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions” – that’s the best rating in the whole run. 1ft SE swell, 10-second period, moderate offshore wind from the NW, and clean. But the energy is still weak (68). The afternoon gets a fresh offshore wind at 19 mph, which is too strong for the tiny waves.

From Saturday August 29 through to Tuesday September 1, it’s back to tiny 1.0-1ft swell with fresh cross-shore winds and lumpy conditions. There’s a gap of several days with no real recommendation – from around August 24 to August 26, and again from August 29 onward.

Bottom line: this is a lean run. Diamond Beach is an exposed spot, but the swell just isn’t delivering. The best chance for a surf is Friday August 21 afternoon (3ft, clean) or Thursday August 27 (2ft, cleaner energy). For beginners, it’s mostly safe because the swell never goes over 5ft, but it’s barely worth paddling out. Honestly, the set-up looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on many of those windy days. Forecasts can change, but right now, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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