Downtowns Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s switch over to feet and miles per hour, same story.

It’s a proper solid run coming our way, with some genuine pulse in the water.

The first action kicks off Monday morning, September 14, and honestly, there’s no flat spell to complain about. The whole stretch has regular swell, so don’t put the board away.

Downtowns is the spot. This is a fairly consistent, advanced reef break that’s fairly exposed to the SW swell, and it’s pulling in a clean, long-period groundswell all week. On Monday morning, September 14, you’ve got 6 ft of SW swell at a very long 16 seconds, with glassy conditions and a slight SSE air. Water temp is 80°, which is about normal for this time of year – no weird anomalies here. The combined wave energy is moderate at 1700. That morning is the standout of the first week: clean, powerful, and well-shaped on that reef. The afternoon holds up good too with a cross-off breeze.

Through Tuesday, September 15, the swell holds around 6–6 ft from the SW, but the wind gets a little more cross or cross-off. It’s still clean enough for a session, but not as pristine as Monday morning.

Wednesday, September 16, is a bit messier with some cross-onshore chop and lower scores, and the period drops to 14 seconds. Still surfable, but not the pick of the week.

Now, Thursday morning, September 17, the swell kicks up to a solid 7 ft from the SSW at 14 seconds, and it’s glass again. That’s a beauty – powerful, clean, and just under the “too big for beginners” threshold.

Saturday afternoon, September 19, the swell drops to 4 ft but goes glassy again. A fun small-wave option if you’ve got a grovel board.

Then Sunday the 20th – that afternoon is a real highlight. 7 ft of SW swell at 16 seconds, glassy conditions, and the energy reading is 2151 (moderate to strong). That’s a proper clean, heavy reef day for experienced surfers.

Monday the 21st afternoon is another glassy one at 6 ft, and Friday the 25th is just okay – nothing special.

Now, looking into the second week, there’s some serious muscle on the charts. Saturday, September 26 afternoon: glassy, 7 ft SSW, moderate energy. Good, but keep an eye on Sunday, September 27. That’s the big one – morning shows 8 ft SSW swell at a very long 20-second period, and afternoon pushes to 10 ft at 19 seconds. This is big (over 8 ft) so it’s experts only. The combined energy readings hit 7379 and 7293 – that’s strong to very strong wave energy. But there’s a caveat: wind is light cross-onshore both sessions. Still, a very long period SSW groundswell at that size on a reef will be a serious, powerful performance wave.

Monday, September 28 keeps it big with 10 ft and 8 ft, but the wind turns cross and picks up to 9 mph, so it’s not as clean. Tuesday the 29th drops back to around 6–6 ft.

One more thing: from about Saturday the 26th through Monday the 28th, that swell is well overhead and pushing hard. For a beach break setup, it might start looking more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, but Downtowns is a reef, so it handles those big, long-period lines well.

If you’re picking your sessions, my top call is Monday morning, September 14 – glassy, 6 ft SW at 16 seconds, clean, and the water is a comfortable 80°. Second standout is Sunday afternoon, September 20 for that same clean power, and the long-range standout is Sunday, September 27 – that’s a big, powerful SSW groundswell but the wind might be just light cross-onshore, so it’s promising but less certain that far out.

Crowds at Downtowns can be an issue – it’s listed as “sometimes” busy, so get there early if you can.

Rusty.

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