Emerald Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Plain truth – it’s gonna be a quiet stretch at Emerald Beach for most of the next two weeks. This point break catches swell, but we’re looking at a whole lot of small, weak surf for days on end. Water temp is about 20°, dead average for this time of year, so nothing strange there.

Sunday morning (August 30th) kicks off with a tiny 0.4m swell from the ENE, period a short 8 seconds. Combined energy is a weak 32. Wind is offshore from the SSW at 20 km/h, so it’s clean, but there’s no surf to speak of. Sunday afternoon through Monday (31st) stays tiny – 0.5m or less. Tuesday (Sept 1st) and Wednesday (2nd) bring onshore winds that mess up what little there is. Thursday (3rd) and Friday (4th) clean up with offshore or cross-off breezes, but swells are still under 0.5m and energy stays below 55 – barely a ripple.

Saturday (5th September) afternoon pops a 1.0m NNE swell, but it’s only 4 seconds period and choppy with a cross-onshore wind from the NNW at 20 km/h. Not worth it. Sunday morning (6th September) finally gets a “surfable” tag – 0.8m NNE, 7 second period, clean cross-off wind from the SSE at 10 km/h. Energy is still weak at 68, but it’s the best so far. Then Monday (7th September) gets blown out with strong onshore NNE wind at 35 km/h and a messy 1.3m swell.

Here’s the one to watch. Tuesday morning (8th September) – a solid 1.8m NNE swell with an 8 second period, combined energy jumps to 385 (moderate), and cross-off wind from the west at 15 km/h. Clean and solid for intermediates. But Tuesday afternoon (8th September) is the real standout: swell hits 3.0m from the NNE, period 8 seconds, energy is a huge 1014 (strong), and the wind goes glassy – WSW at just 5 km/h. That’s a powerful, clean set. But at 3.0m, it’s expert territory only. Too big for beginners. If you’ve got the skills, you’ll score.

Wednesday morning (9th September) drops to 1.1m NNE with offshore SSW wind at 20 km/h – clean but ordinary. After that, it fades fast. From Thursday (10th September) all the way through Monday (14th September), we’re stuck with 0.3m to 0.7m swells and energy under 50. Winds stay clean but there’s nothing to ride. Sunday afternoon (13th September) sees a brief 1.2m NNE spike but it’s a short period windswell of 5 seconds and energy only 84 – sloppy.

So there’s a long gap of flat or tiny surf until Tuesday morning (8th September). Then two sessions – Tuesday morning for intermediate crew, Tuesday afternoon for experts – before it dies again. The rest of the outlook is a miss. That’s just how it goes sometimes at a point break. Forecasts can change, so don’t bank on it, but mark the 8th.

Rusty.

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