Donuts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with ya – it’s a tough stretch ahead. The only spot we’ve got on the radar is Donuts, and even that’s a real mixed bag.

Looking at the whole 16-day run, the overall pattern is grim. We start with a bit of a gap: there’s nothing decent to recommend right this second. The first proper sniff of potential surf kicks off on Monday, 7th September, but it’s immediately let down by a strong cross-onshore wind.

Donuts is a sheltered reef break, but there’s not much swell making its way in. The water temp is sitting at 71°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – a nice little bonus if you do get wet, but it might not be enough to drag you out. The combined wave energy is moderate at best, hitting 943 on Monday morning, but it’s all messy.

For the first week, it’s a frustrating watch. Monday the 7th has some waist-chest high swell (6 ft) from the SSW with a 12-second period, but that bump is utterly wrecked by a 12 mph NW wind that’s tearing across the face. Tuesday the 8th drops down to 3 ft, and the wind, while lighter at 9 mph, is still cross-onshore. Things get smaller from Wednesday the 9th onward, with waves barely scraping 2 ft to 3 ft. The wind does ease off to light breezes at times, but the quality is consistently labelled as poor. There are a few moments on Wednesday the 9th (afternoon) and Thursday the 10th (afternoon) where the forecast is *marginal*, but with light onshore wind and a long-period, straight-running swell (16 seconds), this reef break might not be offering much shape. The long period is typical of a groundswell, but at these tiny sizes, it’s hard to get excited.

The second week from the 14th onwards is more of the same, just smaller again. The swell hovers around 2 ft to 3 ft, with the longest period hitting 19 seconds on Friday the 18th and Sunday the 20th. The combined energy stays in the moderate range (some days pushing 639), but every single surf window is cursed with a cross-onshore wind. There’s no standout session, no day where the stars align.

Honestly, for the full 16 days, there’s no real standout. If I had to pick the least ugly option, it would be Wednesday afternoon, 9th of September. The wave comment says “marginal,” but the onshore wind is very light (6 mph), and if you can find a little pocket on that 2 ft SW swell with a 16-second period, you might get a couple of wobbly rides. But don’t expect much. For a spot that’s already inconsistent, this is a blank run that’s pretty normal for the area. The setup looks more interesting for a kite than a paddleboard right now.

Keep your chin up – forecasts change, and it tends not to stay this poor for long.

- Rusty

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