Duds Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Oi, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for Duds Reef over the next couple of weeks.

Truth be told, it’s a pretty bleak stretch for most of the run. The good news is, there’s a little window right at the end that might just make it worthwhile. The overall pattern is a lot of messy, onshore slop, with a few days of clean, glassy conditions popping up late in the game.

We kick off the first recommendation on Saturday, the 5th of September. The morning sees a 6ft swell pushing in from the east, with a 14-second period. That’s a long-period groundswell, which is a good sign for shape, but the wind is a cross-shore at 15 mph, so it’s got a bit of a chop on it. The combined wave energy is around 2055 (moderate), but the water is sitting at 81°F, which is about average for this time of year. It’s a marginal call, and the afternoon doesn’t look much better with the same size swell dropping a touch in period to 13 seconds and the chop still there.

Sunday, the 6th, is more of the same. A 5ft east swell with a 12-second period, but the wind is picking up to 19 mph in the morning making it lumpy, and there’s a risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon. The energy drops a bit.

From Monday the 7th all the way through to Saturday the 19th of September, the surf is basically a write-off. The wind is consistently onshore or cross-onshore, with a lot of stormy, poor conditions. Swell sizes jump up, with an 12ft onshore mess on Tuesday the 8th and an 8ft cross-onshore mess on the Monday afternoon, but it’s all just choppy, ugly stuff. The combined energy gets up to 4974 (strong) on the Tuesday morning, but with the wind howling from the south, it’s a kite-surfing setup, not a paddling one. There’s a long, 16-day stretch with no real quality, so expect a big blank run.

But hold on. The standout session comes on Sunday, the 20th of September. The afternoon is absolute gold. The wind drops to a glassy 3 mph, and the forecast says “expect very good surf conditions.” The swell is a clean 3ft from the south-southwest, with a 14-second period. That’s a proper groundswell with a bit of energy (539, moderate). For a reef break like Duds Reef, that long-period, organised swell from the SSW is exactly what it needs. The conditions will be clean, smooth, and the waves will be holding their shape. This is the one to circle on the calendar. It’s a little over a week away, so it’s a promising long-range call, but it looks like the real deal.

If you’re an intermediate, that 3ft glassy session on the 20th is your window. The crowds can be around sometimes at Duds Reef, so you might have a few mates out, but with conditions that good, it’s worth it.

Rusty.

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