Dondra Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right then, let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for the Dondra area over the next couple of weeks. Honestly, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. We’ve got a lot of days where the conditions are just marginal, with the risk of thunderstorms hanging around most of the time. The water temp is sitting at 83°, which is about average for this time of year, so you won’t need a thick steamer, that’s for sure.

Alright, starting this Saturday the 25th of July, it’s not looking great. A 5ft swell from the SSE with a short 10-second period, but the wind is a cross-shore from the WSW at 12 mph, making things choppy. The energy is moderate (829), but the quality is poor. This pattern pretty much holds through the weekend. Sunday the 26th shows a slight bump to 5ft on the morning, but with a 16 mph cross-shore wind, it’s messy. The afternoon cleans up a little with a cross-off wind from the west, but we’re still only looking at 5ft from the SE.

Monday the 27th through to Wednesday the 29th is more of the same: waist to chest-high swell, mostly from the SE and then swinging SSW, with cross-off winds keeping the surface clean, but the overall wave energy stays moderate (between 445 and 889). The biggest issue is that this break is inconsistent, so you could be waiting around for a set that never really comes good. It’s not a total write-off, but you’d be scratching for a wave.

Now, things get a bit more interesting towards the end of the first week and into the second. On Friday the 31st of July and into Saturday the 1st of August, we see the combined energy jump into the strong range, hitting 1250 to 1583. The swell holds around 4ft to 4ft from the SSW, with a long 16 to 18-second period. This is real groundswell, and with the wind staying cross-off from the west, the surface should be clean. This looks like the best bet for a decent session in the near term, but remember, this spot is a reef break that’s inconsistent, so you’ve got to be patient.

The standout window, and the one that has me talking, is Sunday the 2nd of August. We get a pulse of swell from the west, pushing up to 8ft in the afternoon, but the period drops to just 8 seconds. That’s a short-period windswell, and while the energy is strong (1489), that short period will make for a lumpy, chunky wave. It’s also over 5ft, so it’s getting a bit much for beginners, but not quite in the expert-only zone. The winds stay cross-off, so it will be rideable.

Through the rest of the second week, we see a return to SSW groundswell with long periods (14 to 19 seconds) and strong wave energy, regularly over 1400 and peaking at 2418 on Saturday the 8th of August. The swell size sits between 4ft and 6ft. The optimum direction for Dondra is SW, and a lot of this SSW swell is close, but not perfect. The winds are consistently cross-off from the west or WNW, which is a big positive. The period is long (over 15 seconds on some days), which means better shaped waves with more push, but at a beach break or exposed reef like this, those long-period swells can sometimes run a bit too straight. Still, for an experienced surfer who knows the line-up, the window from the 6th to the 9th of August has some serious potential, especially the afternoons.

But to be honest, the entire forecast is peppered with "marginal" comments. Dondra is an inconsistent spot, so you can't rock up expecting perfection. The best call if you're keen is to target the cleaner afternoons with that cross-off wind, particularly around the 31st of July and the 1st of August for a manageable long-period swell, or if you're feeling brave and want size, the 2nd of August, despite the short period. For the real dedicated crew, the window from 6th to 9th August looks promising for strong, long-period groundswell, but the further out you look, the more you gotta keep an eye on it.

Rusty.

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