Duckpool Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here.

Let’s have a proper look at what’s on the cards for Duckpool Bay over the next couple of weeks. I gotta be straight with you, this isn’t one of those epic outlooks where you’re clearing your calendar. In fact, for the first solid week or so, there’s basically nothing worth paddling out for. You’ll see tiny 0.7ft to 2ft slop, weak combined energy between 16 and 61, and a lot of poor surf flags. The wind is often cross or onshore, and the swell direction doesn’t really match the break’s optimum W direction. There are a few mornings with clean conditions or light offshore breezes, but the size is just too trivial to get excited about. That’s a long gap from the start through the end of August.

We start to see a little flicker around Wednesday the 27th of August, but it’s still pretty rough. The swell bumps up to 3ft from the SW with a short period of 8 seconds, and the combined energy creeps up to 135, but it’s paired with a lumpy cross-shore wind from the SSW at 30 mph. That’s messy. Thursday the 28th gets bigger but uglier – 7ft to 8ft from the W, but with that cross-chop and rain showers, it’s only for the hardcore or the kites. For a beach break, the conditions look more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. That combined energy hits 747, which is strong, but the quality is poor.

The first real standout I can point you toward is Thursday, September 4th. Not the 3rd, even though it has some swell size, the scores tell me it’s marginal. But on the morning of the 4th, the stars align a little. The swell is 4ft from the W with a 9-second period, combined energy of 252. That’s a moderate, workable push. The wind? Glassy. Just a light breeze from the SE at 5 mph, which is a major positive. That’s clean. This is a proper window for an intermediate surfer. Keep in mind, Duckpool (Duckpool Bay) is an exposed spot, but it’s inconsistent, so you can’t just show up any old time. The crowd profile says “sometimes,” so you might have company, but with conditions that good, it’s worth it.

A quick note on the water temperature: it’s 66° with a 4° positive anomaly, meaning it’s much warmer than normal for this time of year. You might be good in a shorty or even a spring suit.

After that promising morning, the afternoon of the 4th drops off with a weak onshore breeze. Then from the 5th of September onwards, we’re back to fading dribble – 2ft to 2ft with fresh winds. The window slams shut.

So, to sum it up: don’t waste your time for the first eight or nine days. The one and only true standout is the morning of Thursday, September 4th. It’s not a huge swell, but with that glassy wind and clean lines, it’s the best on offer by a mile. Everything else is a write-off.

Rusty.

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