Duds Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s chew the fat on what’s cookin’.

Honestly, the first ten days are a total bust for Duds Reef. We’re looking at a solid block of cross-shore wind – mostly a fresh breeze – and lumpy, chopped-out conditions. The swell is all sorts of junk: short-period windswill or weak long-period stuff. The wave comment screams “poor surf conditions” for days. The combined energy is mostly in the moderate zone (580-1289), but it’s all useless. Not a single window of clean waves.

That ENE wind just hammers in at 18-25 mph. It’s brutal. Even when the swell kicks up to 6-8 ft on Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th, the wind guts it. It’s not surfable.

Saturday the 5th sees a shift. The swell drops a bit, but the period jumps to 13 seconds – real groundswell. The energy rockets to 2221. The wind eases to 18 mph. Still cross-shore, but the wave comment upgrades to “marginal”. You might see a few rideable ones, but it’s still a bumpy mess. This carries through to Monday the 7th.

Now, for the only true highlight. Monday the 7th. The wind finally drops to a moderate 15 mph breeze from the NE and goes cross-offshore. The ocean cleans right up. In the afternoon, the swell pumps to 11 ft from the ENE at a solid 13-second period, with a monstrous combined energy of 6859. That’s some serious juice. But at 11 ft, this is big. This is expert territory only – powerful and heavy. The clean cross-offshore wind will make for some gorgeous, lined-up waves on this reef. If you’ve got the skills and the nerve, that’s your window. Tuesday the 8th dumps right back into windy, messy weather with some thunderstorms.

At the very end of the forecast, around the 14th and 15th, there’s a whisper of clean conditions. Monday afternoon the 14th goes glassy with a 4 ft swell from the ENE, and Tuesday afternoon the 15th goes glassy with a tiny 2 ft swell but a very long 18-second period. That’s two weeks out, so it’s a maybe, not a guarantee.

Bottom line: the water is around 80°F, which is about average for this time of year. Don’t bother until that Monday. The 7th is the only game in town, and it’s a big one. Only for the experts.

Rusty.

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