Dunes Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your wettie, let's take a look at what Dunes has in store for us over the next couple of weeks. The water temp is sitting at 75°, which is pretty average for this time of year, nothing to write home about.

We’ve got a solid run of surf kicking off this Wednesday morning. The swell is coming in at a clean 5ft from the southwest, and with a period of 17 seconds, that’s proper groundswell energy. The wind is light offshore from the ESE, so the lineup should be looking clean. The combined energy is strong (1041), so there’s plenty of push. This is excellent for the experienced crew, but the size and long period will make it tricky for beginners. Wednesday afternoon goes glassy, with the wind dropping to nothing, so if you can sneak a session then, do it.

Thursday morning keeps the love coming with a similar 5ft SW swell (16s period) and a light offshore SSE breeze. The energy is even stronger (1158). It’s still in that sweet spot for experienced surfers. Thursday afternoon, the wind swings cross-on, so it’ll get a bit bumpy and the quality drops off.

Friday through to Monday morning stays rideable, with swell holding around 4ft to 5ft, but the wind starts to get a bit feistier. Friday has moderate cross-off breezes, which keeps things clean, but the scores start to dip. Saturday and Sunday have fresh breezes, with Saturday morning hitting 22 mph cross-off—clean but windy. The energy is still moderate to strong, but it’s not the pristine stuff from the start of the week.

We hit a bit of a lull from Monday afternoon through to the following Saturday. Swell drops to around 3ft to 4ft, with mostly cross-on or funky winds. The energy drops into the weak-to-moderate range (300s to 600s). The wave comment is mostly “poor” or “marginal,” so don’t expect much. There’s a few clean windows in there, like Friday morning (14th August) with a 3ft SW swell and a cross-off breeze, but it’s small and weak.

Now, here’s the real standout. On Tuesday, 18th August, we get a pulse. The morning shows a 7ft SW swell with an 18-second period. That’s a long-period groundswell pumping serious energy (2810). The wind is a moderate offshore from the SSE, so it’ll be clean. This is the best of the forecast, but be warned: at 7ft, this is expert territory. For the more confident crew, this is a cracker. The long period will make the waves stand up nicely at this reef setup, but the sets will be bigger and more powerful. Tuesday afternoon the wind goes onshore and chop ruins it.

Wednesday and Thursday (19th and 20th August) drop back to the 5ft to 6ft range, with clean morning windows on Thursday looking particularly good with light offshore winds. The energy is still strong (1110 to 1447).

Overall, this isn’t a beginner’s window. The best sessions are the mornings this Wednesday and Thursday, and that big Tuesday (18th August) for the experts. The long stretch of small, poor surf from mid-August is a bit of a drag, but that Tuesday morning is worth circling on the calendar.

Rusty.

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