Dracula Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, mate. Rusty here. We’ve got a decent run of surf on the cards for Dracula, but you’ll have to be smart about when you paddle out. This is a reef setup, exposed to the west, so it needs the right tide and wind to really shine. The water’s sitting around 71°, which is bang on average for this time of year.

The first decent chance rolls in on Wednesday morning, August 12th. The swell is small, around 4 ft out of the NNW, but it’s going to be dead glassy in the morning. That’s your window for clean, albeit ordinary, waves. The energy is moderate (154). It won't be pumping, but it’s surfable.

Then we get a real standout. Thursday morning, August 13th, is looking like the pick of the first week. You’ve got a pure glass-off with the wind dropping to zero, a slightly bigger 4.6 ft swell from the NNW, and a period of 7 seconds. The combined energy bumps up to a moderate 259, and the forecast is for good surf conditions. If you can get out there for that morning session, you’ll be stoked. The afternoons get cooked by a cross-shore wind, so it’s a morning game.

Saturday morning, August 15th, is another beauty. The swell holds at 4.9 ft, still from the NNW, with a glassy 3 mph NNE breeze. Energy is climbing to 328, feeling a bit more push. That’s good surf conditions. The afternoon swell jumps to 6.2 ft but gets smacked by 16 mph cross-shore wind, so it’s a write-off.

Looking into the second week, Monday morning, August 17th, offers up a clean 5.2 ft groundswell (9 seconds) with glassy conditions and moderate energy (388). It’s a good window. Thursday morning, August 20th, also looks promising with glassy conditions on a 3.6 ft, 9-second swell, though the energy is lower at 237.

The long-range outlook gets messy. Friday the 21st through the weekend sees the swell pumping up—9.8 ft on the afternoon of the 21st, with energy hitting 863, and 7.2 ft on the morning of the 22nd. But the wind is howling. Friday afternoon sees 22 mph cross-shore winds, Saturday afternoon has 25 mph cross-onshore (energy 1092), and Sunday afternoon is a total write-off with 31 mph near-gale cross-onshore. This is expert-only territory if you even attempt it—over 8.1 ft and blown to bits. The morning of the 23rd still has 7.2 ft swell but wind is still 16 mph cross-shore.

The standout by a mile is Thursday morning, August 13th at Dracula. Clean, glassy, solid 4.6 ft swell, and all the conditions aligning. Get it while it’s good.

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