Duckpool Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright mates, Rusty here. Let’s cut to the chase: Duckpool Bay is looking pretty lackluster over the next 16 days. The surf just isn’t shaping up, and you’ll be staring at a long stretch of near-flat to poor conditions. The first real chance to paddle out doesn’t come until the morning of Monday, August 3rd, and even then, it’s not a day to write home about.

We’ve got a gap of almost no rideable surf from now through the first couple of days. The weekend offers tiny 0.5ft swell from the west, but with a cross-onshore wind and a weak energy reading of 47. It’s not worth wetting the suit. Sunday morning has a cleaner look with a light offshore easterly breeze, but the swell is still a tiny 0.5ft. It’s clean but empty.

The first real opportunity arrives Monday morning, August 3rd. The water temp is 65°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year. We’ll see a 3ft swell from the west-southwest, with a 9-second period, and the combined energy hits 111 – that’s moderate, enough to push a longboard. The wind will be glassy, dead calm, so the surface will be clean. The break is exposed to the west and the optimum swell direction is west, so this short-period pulse is coming from the right spot. It’s inconsistent, so don’t expect a wave every minute. Crowds are possible, but on a day like this, it won’t be busy.

The rest of the forecast is a grind. Monday afternoon turns onshore and messy. Tuesday and Wednesday get blown out by strong cross-onshore winds, with choppy conditions. Swell sizes climb to 4ft to 6ft by Wednesday the 5th, but the wind is a fresh westerly onshore, so the quality is poor. The energy jumps to 272 and then 353, but it’s all wind-slop. This is a beach setup, and with that much wind and chop, it looks more like a kite surfer’s playground than a paddle surfer’s.

The waves drop right off from the 8th through the 11th of August – we’re talking tiny, sometimes 0.3ft, with long periods up to 12 seconds but no height to speak of. Energy readings are in the single digits. It’s flat.

Then, on the morning of Wednesday, August 12th, there’s a spike of moderate energy at 234 with a 4ft swell from the west-southwest, 8-second period, and light offshore winds. The report calls it marginal, but it’s the only other spot in the whole window that scores a mention. The morning of the 13th of August is glassy with 4ft swell, but again, it’s just ordinary.

The very end of the run, on Sunday, August 16th, sees a solid 7ft to 8ft swell from the west, with energy readings of 465 and 553 – that’s strong. But the wind is onshore, the period is short at 7-8 seconds, and the quality is poor. That’s a size too big for beginners and, with the wind and short period, it’s not the clean, powerful groundswell you want. It’ll be a messy, lumpy wall.

So, the honest truth is: you’ve got a long gap of nothing, then a couple of small, clean mornings in the first week that are the best on offer. The standout is Monday morning, August 3rd. For the rest, you’re better off waiting for a better forecast.

Rusty.

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