Duds Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, this is Rusty. Let me break down what’s coming for Duds Reef over the next couple of weeks. The water temp is sitting right around 81°F right now, which is about average for this time of year – nothing out of the ordinary.

The early part of the period is pretty rough. We’ve got a few days of nothing much happening. The surf is poor, the wind is a fresh cross-shore messing everything up, and the swell just isn’t cooperating. Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th are write-offs. Saturday the 5th is marginal at best, and Sunday the 6th is still messy with a cross-onshore wind and some rain around. Things stay below par through Monday the 7th, even though the energy is starting to build – the wind is strong and cross-shore, and the swell is just too unruly.

Now, Monday the 7th afternoon is a bit of a weird one. The swell is predicted to be way too big for this break – we’re talking 23 feet from the SSW with a massive combined energy of 23426 – that’s serious power. But the wind is howling from the ESE at 28 mph, strong cross-onshore and messy. This setup is more for kite surfers than paddle surfers, honestly. Not one for the average surfer.

Tuesday the 8th and Wednesday the 9th are still poor to marginal, with light cross-onshore breezes and small swell. Thursday the 10th is a write-off too with fresh cross-shore wind. Things start to look a little more hopeful on Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th, with some moderate cross-shore winds and a bit of a bump in swell, but it’s still not clean.

The best bet for a paddle is shaping up for Sunday the 13th morning. We’ve got a clean cross-off wind from the NE at 9 mph, 6 feet swell from the E with a 9-second period, and combined energy of 620 (moderate energy). The conditions are clean and the surf is looking very good. This is the standout window for Duds Reef. Crowds are possible here, so get in early.

Monday the 14th sees light offshore winds and a 7 to 8 feet swell from the ENE – that’s getting a bit big for beginners, but for the experienced crew it’s worth a look. The wind is light, so it should be clean.

Then we get a real gem on Tuesday the 15th morning. Glassy conditions (wind from SSE at 3 mph, flat calm), with a 4 feet swell from the SW but with a 21-second period – that’s a very long period groundswell. The energy is 1486 (strong wave energy). This will be an excellent surf for experienced surfers, but the long period means it’ll break quite straight at a beach break – but Duds Reef is a reef, so it should handle that beautifully. That’s a proper standout session.

The rest of the week from Wednesday the 16th through Friday the 18th drops back to marginal conditions, with moderate cross-shore breezes and smaller swell, so not much to get excited about after that.

Rusty

Read more