Emerald Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, mate, Rusty here. Let’s talk about the next couple of weeks at Emerald Beach.

The window kicks off with a bit of a tease. We’ve got some clean, lined-up swell moving in for Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th. It’s not going to be massive, but there’s enough energy in the water – we’re looking at a combined energy reading of 343 on Tuesday morning – to get some fun ones. The swell is coming from the ESE with a short-period, around 7-8 seconds, so it’ll be a bit crumbly, but the wind is light and cross-off or even glassy. That’s the kind of clean surface that makes a point break like this light up. Water temp is 66.7°F, which is about normal for this time of year. These two days are your best early bet, but it’s not a standout. It’s just solid, surfable.

Then we hit a wall. Thursday and Friday (20th and 21st) are blown out with onshore winds and the energy drops right off. The swell gets smaller, and the wind turns against us. It’s going to be a bit of a write-off. The weekend doesn’t offer much either – Saturday morning (22nd) has some tiny, glassy waves, but they’re weak, with energy down in the 60s. Sunday morning (23rd) is the same story, just clean but very small.

We’ve got a real dry spell from the 20th through the 26th. It’s just not happening. The swell is small, the wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, and there’s no power behind anything. It’s the kind of flat, junky stretch that makes you wonder if the ocean’s on a break. Then, out of nowhere, things change late on Thursday the 27th. A new pulse of swell shows up in the afternoon, with the wind dropping to glassy and the energy jumping to 398. We’re looking at chest to head-high waves, but the swell direction is NNE and the period is a short 6 seconds, so it might be a bit sectiony. It’s exciting to see the energy, but the short period means it won’t be the cleanest.

However, the real standout of this entire outlook is Sunday the 30th of August. This is the one. After all that mediocrity, the ocean finally wakes up. We’ve got a proper pulse of swell, with the morning seeing 6.2ft of swell from the NE. The combined energy jumps to 362, which is a solid, powerful reading. But the magic is in the wind: a light SSW offshore breeze is forecast, which is exactly what you want at Emerald Beach. This is going to be clean, lined-up, and with some real push behind it. This is the day to clear your calendar. The swell direction is from the NE, which matches the guidance optimum, so it should be hitting the point perfectly. This is your standout, plan for it.

Monday the 31st has some more size, but the wind is howling offshore at 22-25 mph. It’s going to be a clean but wild and hard-to-paddle-into session. The energy is still moderate, but that wind is a serious factor. Into early September, things taper off and get smaller again, with a return to cleaner but weaker conditions. The long-range stuff looks promising but it's a lot less certain. Keep your eyes on that Sunday the 30th.

Overall, it's a week and a half of frustration followed by one great day. That’s the way it goes sometimes.

Read more