Dracula Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right then, let’s talk about what’s coming up at Dracula. We’re looking at a pretty flat start, honestly. For the first week or so, there’s just nothing doing – small, weak waves with onshore winds spoiling any chance of a decent ride. You’ve got a long dry spell here, from Sunday the 5th through to about Wednesday the 15th, where the best you can hope for is a few glassy mornings but with barely enough energy to push a longboard along. The wave energy is weak, with values hanging around the 50s and 60s, so don’t get your hopes up.

Now, things start to stir a little around Sunday the 12th, when we see a jump in the swell period – up to 11 seconds – and the energy finally creeps over 100 (113), but the wind's still messing it up. It’s not until Thursday the 16th that we get a glimmer of something, with a glassy morning and surfable but ordinary conditions.

But hold on. The real story is later. The standout for this whole run is Monday the 20th of July. That morning is where it all comes together. We’ve got a clean 8ft swell rolling in from the NNW, the wind is absolutely glassy from the east, and the wave energy is strong at 764. This is proper groundswell territory, and Dracula (reef) is built for this kind of direction. The period is 8 seconds, so not super long-period, but with this size and clean conditions, it’s going to be firing. This one is easily the pick of the bunch – uncrowded (only sometimes sees crowds) but expect it to be a little busy because it’s going to look perfect. That swell is over 8ft in the afternoon though, so it’s only for the experts later on.

The weekend before that, on Saturday the 18th, we also get a decent window. A 6ft swell with glassy offshore south winds in the morning – that’s a very good sign. The energy is strong (387). It’s still a bit under the 8ft mark for that morning, so manageable for strong intermediates, but it’s a good warm-up for the Monday.

Overall, don’t bother paddling out for the first week and a half. The water temp is about 68°, which is a touch below average for this time of year – nothing wild, just a little cooler than normal. Save your energy for Saturday the 18th morning, and definitely the Monday the 20th morning. That’s the one.

Rusty

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