Emerald Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the cards for our local patch, Emerald Beach. It's a classic point break that's fairly consistent and exposed to a bit of north-east swell, but the whole 16-day window looks like a mixed bag.

We kick off early on Monday, August 17th. The swell is around 5 ft from the ESE with a period of just 7 seconds. That's short-period, wind-affected stuff. The energy is moderate (203), but we've got a light S wind, so it's clean enough to enjoy. The vibe is good, but this isn't going to blow you away. It's a decent start, but the quality drops off fast. Monday afternoon sees the wind shift cross-shore and the conditions get a little tricky.

Tuesday the 18th brings better energy (321 to 377) but again, the swell is short period. Morning has clean conditions with a SSE cross-off breeze and 4 ft. It's surfable, but for a point break, the short period might make it a bit jumbled. The afternoon turns cross-shore and small.

Then we get a real highlight. Wednesday, August 19th, is the standout of the whole forecast. We've got a clean 4 ft swell from the SE with a period of 10 seconds. That's a much better, longer-period groundswell with solid energy (396). The wind is SSW and offshore, which is what you want for a point. Expect clean, lined-up waves. This is the session to circle on the calendar. The afternoon drops off as the wind turns cross-onshore.

After that, things go quiet. We get a run of onshore and cross-onshore winds from Thursday the 20th all the way through to Monday the 25th. The swell stays small (2 ft to 5 ft) but the wind is mostly from the north, which doesn't favour the point. The energy drops right off, there's some glassy conditions in there on Tuesday the 25th, but the swell is tiny at 2 ft, so it's barely a ripple. That's a stretch of about 6 days with nothing really worth paddling out for.

There’s a flicker of hope late in the run, but it's not much. Wednesday, August 26th, sees a bump in swell (5 ft from ESE, 7 seconds) but the wind is cross-onshore, so it's messy. Thursday the 27th cleans up nicely with a SSW offshore breeze and 3 ft, but it's only ordinary, not exciting. Then from Friday the 28th onwards, the wind picks up strong (22 mph from the SSW on Friday morning) but the swell is tiny (3 ft) and energy is really low (69). That's a 'stay at home' day.

The very long-range part of the forecast, from the 30th of August into September 1st, shows a few bigger pulses of energy popping up (275 to 425 energy), and the period stretches out to 11 or 12 seconds, which is proper groundswell. But the problem is the wind is strong, onshore or cross-onshore from the north, and the swell direction is all over the place. For a point break like Emerald Beach, a long-period swell from the ESE with northerly onshore winds is going to be a messy, blown-out mess. It's promising in the data but looks pretty ugly in practice for a paddle.

To sum it up: the only true standout is Wednesday, August 19th, in the morning. Get on it. The rest is a mix of average clean days and long spells of onshore slop. If you're a kiter, there are a few days in the second week with strong cross-shore wind and a bit of swell, like the afternoon of Saturday, August 29th. Paddle surfers will be waiting for the next proper window.

Keep the faith, Rusty.

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