Duds Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here, and I've gotta be straight with you – this 16-day window is a total write-off for Duds Reef. It's a proper reef set-up that's fairly consistent and exposed to the swell, but the conditions just aren't playing ball.

Let's start with the water temp – it's sitting at 81°, which is about normal for this time of year, so no surprises there.

The only half-decent window is right at the start, on Wednesday August 12th. We've got a 3ft to 4ft S swell rolling in with a very long 18-second period – that's proper groundswell, loads of energy (1029 to 1154 combined energy). But the wind is a solid 16 to 19 mph from the ENE, cross-shore, creating a lumpy cross-chop that's gonna mess up the face. The morning's a bit better, but it's still only marginal. Honestly, it's not worth paddling out for.

Then it goes downhill fast. Thursday August 13th through Sunday August 16th sees the swell jump up – 8ft to 12ft of E windswell with a short 10-11 second period, and the wind gets nasty, hitting 25 to 34 mph. That's strong energy (1689 to 2590 combined), but it's a cross-shore mess with a heavy chop. By Sunday August 16th, we're talking near-gale cross-shore winds and crossing waves. This setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, to be honest.

After that, the swell drops back to 2ft to 5ft, but the wind doesn't let up – it's a moderate to fresh breeze out of the ENE, keeping that cross-chop alive. The wave energy is weak to moderate (330 to 1048 combined), and the period is all over the place, from 7 seconds to 18 seconds. The long-period S and SSW groundswells that pop up around August 21st to 24th are prone to breaking too straight on this reef, and the wind's never clean enough to make it worthwhile.

The only glimmer of hope is on Saturday August 22nd afternoon. The swell is tiny at 2ft from the SW, with a 15-second period, but the wind goes glassy – 3 mph from the ENE, calm as. That's the only time in the whole 16 days where it's clean, but with such small waves, you're just bobbing around. The combined energy is only 408, so it's weak.

The rest of the run is a dead zone. From August 23rd onwards, it's all poor or marginal conditions with moderate cross-shore wind and chop. There's nothing to get excited about.

So, to sum it up: there's a solid 16-day gap with no decent surf. Duds Reef is a consistent spot, so it tends not to stay poor for long, and forecasts can change. But for now, I'd take a break and wait for the next window.

Rusty.

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