Ditch Plains Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be honest with you – this is a tough stretch. We’re looking at a long, dry spell to start. The first proper surfable window doesn't show up until Sunday morning, the 19th, so you’re looking at a gap of a couple of days with nothing worth paddling out for. Things do show a little pulse of life around the middle of next week, but the conditions are going to make you work for it.

Sunday morning, 19 July is our first real shot. Ditch Plains will be showing a bit of juice with a 4ft south swell, period around 7 seconds, and the big news is we get a moderate offshore wind from the NW. That’s going to clean things up. The water is sitting at 68°, which is a bit colder than normal for this time of year, so you might want a spring suit. The energy is moderate (138), so there’s some push, but the swell is short period, so it’ll be a bit lumpy and not the sort of groundswell you can really sink your teeth into. It’s surfable, and that offshore wind is a major positive, but it’s very ordinary.

Monday morning, 20 July is another one to pencil in. The swell drops to 3ft from the south, but the period stretches to 8 seconds. The absolute standout here is the wind – it’s glassy, dead calm from the NE. That’s going to make the surface like a mirror. The energy is weak (80), so the waves will be small and weak, but for a clean, small-wave session on a longboard, that’s your window. After that, the wind goes onshore and it’s back to square one.

Wednesday, 22 July sees the biggest swell of the outlook, but it’s a complete write-off for surfing. We’ve got a 7ft to 8ft south swell rolling in with a 9-second period, and the combined energy is strong (671 to 847). But the wind is a fresh cross-shore or cross-onshore at 15-21 mph. That’s going to turn Ditch Plains into a washing machine – lumpy, choppy, and messy. For a beach break, that setup is much more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. This one is for experts only, and even then, it’s poor.

Thursday morning, 23 July offers a bit of a clean-up. The swell drops to 5ft from the south, with a 9-second period, and we get a cross-offshore wind from the west. The energy is moderate (444). It’s still a solid size, potentially too big for beginners, and the period is still short, but the clean wind makes it the most promising session of the second week. The quality is still only marginal.

The rest of the run is a mixed bag of small, weak, and onshore. There’s a tiny window on Friday morning, 24 July with a 3ft south swell and a light offshore, and again on Saturday morning, 25 July with a glassy 3ft SE swell, but the energy is weak (106 and 120). After that, it’s a lot of cross-shore chop and poor conditions right through to the end of the month. The swell tries to pick up again on 1st and 2nd August, with 4ft to 7ft south swell, but the wind is onshore or cross-shore, making it choppy and unappealing.

Overall, if you’re desperate, aim for the glassy Monday morning or the offshore Sunday morning, and keep an eye on that Thursday morning for a slightly bigger, cleaner option. The rest of it is a long wait for something better.

Rusty.

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