Donuts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming up for Donuts. Gotta be straight with you, this stretch is looking pretty grim for the next week and a half. The water’s sitting at 71°, which is a solid 4° warmer than usual for this time of year – feels like a warm bath compared to the norm.

The first few days are a write-off. The swell is coming from the southwest, but the wind is all wrong, mostly cross-onshore, chopping everything up. The wave energy is sitting in the moderate range (between 453 and 707), but with that wind, it’s just messy. Don’t bother paddling out until at least Friday the 24th of July.

Things start to look a little more interesting on the morning of Friday the 24th of July. We’ve got a 2ft swell from the southwest, but the period jumps to a massive 24 seconds. That’s a very long period groundswell, and the combined energy shoots up to 1102, which is solid. The wind is a light cross-onshore at 10 km/h, only producing small ripples. It’s still only a marginal call, but that long period means the waves will have shape and power. Remember, a long period swell like this can break too straight at a beach, but Donuts is a reef break, so it should handle it well. The size is small, so it’s fine for all levels.

The rest of the first week and into the second week is more of the same – poor conditions with cross-onshore winds. There’s a glimmer on the morning of Friday the 31st of July. The swell bumps up to 5ft from the south with a 15-second period, and we get a light offshore wind from the west at 10 km/h. The energy is strong at 1079, and the wind is clean. That’s a promising combo, but we're looking at a date a week away, so keep your expectations in check.

The best chance for a decent session looks like the morning of Saturday the 1st of August. The swell is a solid 6ft from the south-southwest, with a 13-second period, and the wind is a clean 15 km/h offshore from the west. The combined energy is powerful at 1313. That’s a proper swell, but at 6ft, it’s getting into intermediate territory. The offshore wind will make it glassy, but it’s a long-range forecast, so don’t book the day off work just yet. The reef at Donuts should hold up well with that direction.

After that, the swell fades into the first week of August, and we’re back to poor conditions. All in all, there’s not much to get excited about until the very end of the month. The best bet is the morning of August 1st, but it’s a long way off.

Rusty.

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