Emerald Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve got to be straight with you—this 16-day stretch for Emerald Beach is a real struggle. The forecast is dominated by tiny, weak swells and mostly poor conditions, so there’s almost nothing to get excited about. We’re looking at a long, dry spell with no real standout days, and the few moments that might offer something are buried in the second week. For the first 13 days, from Saturday 29th August right through to Friday 11th September, every single session is rated as poor surf conditions. The waves are tiny—mostly 1.0ft to 2ft—with combined swell energy barely registering (values like 47, 32, 29, 24, 53, 68, 71, 93, 60, 52, 41, 40, 28, 68, 70, 139, 121, 85, 41, 17, 10, 8, 8, 11, 39, and 134, all weak to moderate at best). The swell direction is bouncing around from ENE to NNE, but the optimum swell direction for Emerald Beach is NE, so it’s never quite lining up. Winds are mostly onshore, cross-on, or cross-off, and even the offshore breezes can’t do much with the lack of size. The water temperature is a comfortable 68°F, which is about average for this time of year (anomaly of -0.5°F), but that’s little comfort when there’s no surf.

Now, late in the second week, we finally get a hint of life. On Saturday 12th September, the morning sees some improvement—there’s a 3ft swell from the north with a period of 6 seconds, and combined energy of 120 (moderate), but the real kicker is the glassy wind. This is the only session in the entire 16 days that gets a score of 1 out of 10, making it the best of a very bad bunch. The water temp is still about average for the date, but it’s not the one to chase. The swell is short-period (6 seconds) and coming from the north rather than the optimum NE, so it’s not going to be great. Still, it’s surfable, and with glassy conditions, it’s your best chance. The rest of the weekend and into the following week fades back to poor, tiny swell and messy winds.

Bottom line: this is a barren run for Emerald Beach. It’s a point break that’s fairly consistent, but even consistency can’t save it when the swell is this weak. The setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on the bigger, windier days. For now, keep your board waxed and hope the forecasts change—this stretch tends to bounce back, but it’s not happening here.

Rusty

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