Donuts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – lookin' at the next couple of weeks, it's a tough one for Donuts. Let's get into it.

The whole 16-day window is a struggle. The forecast is pretty much a string of "poor surf conditions" and "marginal" calls, with the first real glimmer of anything usable not showing up for a while.

Right now, on Sunday the 26th of July, it's a no-go. We've got a 3ft swell from the southwest with a beautiful 18-second period – that's proper groundswell energy, reading at 702 (moderate energy). But the wind is coming from the southwest at 15 km/h, putting us in a cross-on position, and the water's a very warm 72°F (way warmer than usual for this time of year). The cross-on breeze is just chopping it all up, making for poor surf.

Moving into Monday the 27th, the swell bumps up a touch to 4ft from the southwest, and the energy is strong at 1021. The period is still a long 18 seconds. But again, the wind is from the south-southwest, giving us a cross-shore breeze that's just creating a slight cross-chop. It's a marginal call, mostly a pass for me.

The best of a bad bunch looks like Friday the 31st of July. We get a 5ft swell from the south-southwest with a 13-second period. The energy is still solid at 928. In the morning, the wind swings to the west-northwest at 10 km/h, putting it offshore. That's clean. The swell is a bit over 5ft, so it might be a handful for beginners, but for an intermediate, that's a proper window. The only downer is that this is an inconsistent spot, and when it's on, the crowds can show up sometimes. But for a short window, that's the go.

After that, it all drops off again. The early part of August sees the swell fade to well under 3ft, and the wind stays messy. The energy drops to weak (under 300) by the 5th. There's a long 21-second period swell on the 6th of August at 1ft, but that's minuscule and with a period that long, it'll be a real slow, fat one at a sheltered reef break like this – not worth the paddle.

Honestly, if you're looking at the first week of August, the setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddler, with small, windy conditions. Sometimes you get a blank run like this for the area. It's normal. Forecasts can change, but the next 16 days are a write-off unless you can get on that Friday the 31st.

Rusty.

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