Duds Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what Duds Reef has in store for us over the next couple of weeks.

Straight up, I gotta be honest with you – this is a tough stretch. We’re looking at a long, frustrating run of poor conditions, so don’t get your hopes up too high. The first real chance for a surf that’s worth getting wet for comes Wednesday the 16th of September, but even that’s just a marginal call.

Wednesday the 16th is the pick of a bad bunch. We’ve got a 3ft SSW groundswell rolling in with a long 18-second period, and the combined energy is moderate at (754). The morning’s a bit messy with a cross-shore wind, but by the afternoon the wind swings cross-offshore from the NE at 25 km/h, cleaning things right up. That afternoon session is your best bet – the wave comment says “marginal” but the wind is clean. That 3ft won’t blow you away, but the long period means there’s some push in the water, and it’ll link up okay on the reef.

After that, it’s grim. From Thursday the 17th right through to the end of the month, we are in the wilderness. The wind stays cross or cross-on, blowing 19 to 25 mph, and the swell direction is mostly unfavourable out of the E and ENE. A lot of these days have a “poor surf conditions” tag and a score of zero. The swell height bumps up into the 5ft to 7ft range a few times, like on Thursday the 17th afternoon (5ft) and Sunday the 20th (6ft), but the period drops to a short 8 or 9 seconds, and the wind is just howling cross-shore. That’s lumpy, choppy, and plain ugly – more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle-surfing one.

There’s a brief flicker on Wednesday the 23rd of September. The swell is 7ft to 7ft from the east with a 10-second period, and the wind goes cross-offshore from the NE. The energy jumps into strong territory (1173) and the wave comment says “marginal” with clean conditions. That said, 7ft at this spot with that short period is going to be a handful – better for experienced surfers only, and you’re looking at a fair bit of rain and even a risk of thunderstorms at that point. It’s promising, but with conditions that unsettled, it’s a long way out and not something to book the day off work for just yet.

The water temperature is sitting pretty average for the time of year, nothing unusual there. Expect clean sessions to be rare and far between.

After the 23rd, we’re back into a frustrating groove of onshore winds and weak, short-period swell right through to October 1st. There’s not a single standout day after that Wednesday. If you’re desperate, the Wednesday afternoon the 16th is your window – otherwise, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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