Dumps Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, let’s have a look at what’s coming up. This forecast is all about one spot: Dumps. It’s an inconsistent sandbar that’s fairly exposed to the swell, and it needs a good setup to fire. There’s a bit of a gap at the start here – the first surf on offer kicks off Sunday afternoon, September 6th.

Sunday afternoon the 6th sees a solid 7ft SW groundswell rolling in with a very long 16-second period. The combined swell energy is strong at 1978, and with a light SE cross-off breeze, conditions will be clean. But listen, the water temperature is sitting at 54°, which is 6° colder than normal for this time of year – that’s really unusual, so you’ll want a good thick wetsuit. This is excellent for experienced surfers only, as that size and power will be too much for beginners. The wind stays clean into Monday morning the 7th with glassy conditions and a similar 7ft SW swell (period 14 seconds, energy 1471). Monday afternoon drops a touch to 6ft, still clean. Tuesday morning the 8th is glassy again with 3ft WSW swell (period 12 seconds, energy 523) – good conditions, but the size is dropping right off. By Tuesday afternoon it’s only 2ft and very ordinary.

Wednesday the 9th is small again, with a 3ft WSW swell in the morning (energy 325), but still clean. The standout of the whole run looks to be Thursday morning the 10th. We get a jump to 10ft SW swell with a 16-second period, and the combined energy is massive at 4838. The wind is a light S cross-off, so it’ll be clean. This is solid, expert-only territory – powerful, long-period groundswell that’ll be best at the point and reef setups, but at a sandbar like Dumps, it might break a bit straight. Still, for the crew who know the bank, this is the best on offer.

The surf stays decent through Friday the 11th (7ft WSW, period 13 seconds, energy 1452) but the wind picks up to 16 mph, making it more marginal. Saturday the 12th afternoon brings another strong pulse: 8ft SW swell, 16-second period, energy 2668, with a gentle SSE cross-off – that’s another excellent window for experienced surfers. Sunday the 13th turns poor with strong onshore winds, and Monday the 14th is even worse. Tuesday the 15th sees a 10ft WSW swell but with strong cross-onshore winds – that’s messy and more for kite surfing than paddling. The second week is a mixed bag: Wednesday the 16th and Thursday the 17th have clean cross-off winds with 7ft and 6ft SW swells respectively, but the wind is up to 22 mph at times. Friday the 18th is small and clean in the morning (5ft, energy 522), then Saturday the 19th morning turns glassy again with a 6ft SW swell and a 15-second period, energy 1436 – that’s another sneaky good session for those in the know. Sunday the 20th is bigger (8ft) but with onshore wind, and then Monday the 21st wraps it up with clean 6ft SW swell and light winds.

Overall, the best bet is Thursday morning September 10th, with Saturday afternoon the 12th and Saturday morning the 19th as solid backup options. This spot is inconsistent, so when it lines up, you gotta go.

Rusty.

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