East Pier (Port Alfred) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let's take a look at what's on the table for East Pier (Port Alfred) over the next couple of weeks.

The outlook is a wild ride. There's a lot of swell on the cards, but honestly, the early part of the run is a write-off thanks to some nasty wind. The real standout sessions are going to be for the experienced crew willing to wait out the bad days, and there’s a couple of monster pulses right at the end that look promising, though they’re a long way off.

We’re kicking off on Thursday, July 2nd, and it kicks off with a bang but not in a good way. A solid 15ft SW swell is slamming in, but with a 34 mph cross-offshore wind, it’s just a blown-out mess. The wave energy is extreme (4986). No one wants that.

Friday the 3rd is where it gets interesting for the right crowd. The swell drops to a still-chunky 8ft from the SSE, but the wind swings offshore and drops to 12 mph. That’s game on for intermediate to expert surfers. The energy is still pumping (4487), and the 11-second period is proper groundswell. This is your best early call. The water is sitting at 65°, which is a bit colder than typical for this time of year.

Saturday the 4th is a solid follow-up. You’ve got a 8ft SE swell with a gentle 9 mph offshore breeze in the morning. It’s still got heaps of energy (2316) and should dish up some nice, clean faces for the experienced surfer.

Now, from Saturday afternoon all the way through to Tuesday the 14th, things get messy. The wind turns onshore or cross-shore from the ENE, and the swell quality just tanks. There are a few smaller windows, like Sunday the 5th morning with a 5ft SE swell and light offshore wind, but the energy drops (929) and the consistency gets iffy. It’s not worth paddling out for the average punter. Honestly, a lot of this stretch looks more like a kiter’s playground than a surfer’s paradise, especially when those ENE winds pipe up to 25 mph and the swell is still over 7ft.

Then, hold onto your board, because Thursday the 9th of July we get a proper bomb. A 13ft SSW swell with a 15-second period rolls in. The wave energy is off the charts at 7254. The wind is a light offshore (9 mph), which is perfect. The problem? At 13ft, this is strictly for experts only. It’ll be big, powerful, and a serious test for anyone at East Pier.

After a week of rubbish cross-onshore wind and messy, lumpy conditions from the 10th to the 14th, the forecast gets a reprieve right at the very end. On Thursday the 16th afternoon, we see an 12ft SW swell with light cross-offshore wind and clean surfaces. The energy is strong at 2646. Then Friday the 17th looks even cleaner, with an 12ft SW swell and a gentle 9 mph offshore wind in the morning. The energy is massive (3969). This is the other standout window for the brave and the skilled. It’s a long way off, so treat it as a promising possibility, not a guarantee.

Crowds at East Pier? They can pop up sometimes, especially when the conditions are good, but with these size swells, the lineup will be thinned out to only the committed.

-Rusty

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