Emma Wood State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer for Emma Wood State Beach over the next 16 days.

Straight up, I’m not gonna sugar-coat it: this is a pretty grim run. The whole 16-day window is filled with “poor surf conditions” across every single forecast slot. There’s no standout, no hidden gem, no day where you’d rush to get your wettie on. The first recommendation doesn’t even appear until Sunday 2 August, and even then it’s a weak start.

The first surf we see is Sunday 2 August morning. The swell is a tiny 2ft from the west, with a period of 8 seconds – that’s short-period windswell, not much push behind it. The combined energy of all swells is only 111 (moderate energy), but the wind is blowing from the WSW at 9 mph, which is onshore and messy. The water temperature is 71° – that’s 7° warmer than normal, which is very unusual for the time of year. It’s like a warm bath out there, but the waves are flat and choppy. Not worth paddling out.

Sunday afternoon doesn’t get any better – same size, cross-onshore wind, still poor.

Moving into Monday 3 August, the swell drops to 2ft, period falls to 6 seconds, and the wind stays cross-onshore. Energy drops to 51 (weak). It’s just small, weak, and bumpy.

Tuesday 4 August sees the swell shrink further to 1.0ft, but the period jumps to 15 seconds – that’s a long-period groundswell. The problem? It’s coming from the SW, which is the optimum swell direction for this spot, but 1.0ft is barely a ripple. Combined energy is 67 (weak). The morning has light onshore wind, but still, there’s nothing to ride.

Wednesday 5 August through to Monday 17 August is a repeating pattern: tiny swell (0.7ft to 2ft), mostly from the SSW or SW, with periods ranging from 13 to 19 seconds. The longer periods (15–19 seconds) suggest groundswell, but with such small heights, it’s not going to break properly. The combined energy occasionally bumps up into the 100s (moderate), like on Friday 7 August morning (120) and Saturday 8 August morning (143), but the wind is either cross-onshore or onshore, and the surf quality is still rated as poor.

There are a few days where the energy climbs a bit more – Thursday 14 August afternoon hits 288 (moderate), and Saturday 15 August morning and afternoon sit around 194–196 (moderate). But the swell height is still only 1ft to 2ft, and the wind is never clean offshore. It’s always onshore or cross-onshore, so the surface is gonna be messy.

The best you could hope for is maybe a tiny, clean, long-period wave on a morning with light onshore wind, like Tuesday 11 August morning (0.7ft, 19 seconds, light onshore), but that’s a stretch. The break here is a beach and reef setup, fairly exposed, and crowds are often around. With no real swell and poor wind, it’s not even worth a look.

Honestly, if you’re looking for a paddle, you’re out of luck. The whole 16 days is a blank run. It’s one of those periods where the forecast can change, but right now, it’s a hard pass. The kite crew might get a bit of fun on the windier afternoons, but for a surfer? Leave the board at home.

Rusty.

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