Emma Wood State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. I know you’re keen to get wet, but this one’s gonna test your patience. Emma Wood State Beach is our only spot on the radar for this whole 16-day stretch, and to be brutally honest, it’s a pretty grim run.

We’ve got a couple of weeks ahead that are mostly flat and unfriendly. The swell is tiny – we’re looking at a persistent 2 ft to 2 ft from the SSW for most of the first week and a half, with barely enough energy to push a foamie around. The combined swell energy stays low, drifting from the 300s range down to triple digits (325 Tuesday morning for the highest early bump), but it’s never enough to get excited about. The water temp is sitting at 64°, which is a touch warmer than normal for the time of year, so at least you won’t be freezing waiting for nothing.

Tuesday the 7th is a write-off. Small, wind-affected junk. Wednesday the 8th through Friday the 11th is more of the same – light onshore breezes keeping things messy, and the swell barely lifts above knee-high. By Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th it gets even smaller, dropping under 2 ft, and the energy falls away (169 on Sunday morning, 150 by the arvo). The following Monday and Tuesday, the 14th and 15th, are totally flat – we’re talking 1 ft to 1 ft with combined energy down in the 40 to 100 range. This is not surf.

There is one tiny glimmer. On Friday the 17th in the morning, we get a glassy session with the wind dropping to nearly nothing (3 mph, glass). The swell is still small – 2 ft from the west – but the period jumps to 9 seconds, giving a touch more shape. The combined energy stumbles up to 145, and the wave comment actually says "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions." This is the closest thing we have to a recommendation. But with breaks as beach and reef, and the swell direction (W) not matching the optimum (SW) at all, plus the wave state being labeled "poor surf conditions" every other time slot, it’s not a standout. It’s just the least bad option.

Beyond that, the second week is a slow fade. Sunday the 19th sees a bump in combined energy to 226 in the morning, but the swell stays at 2 ft from the SW with period around 17 seconds – that’s a long period groundswell for such small height, which will just struggle to make anything at a beach-and-reef spot. Cross-onshore winds won’t help. By Monday the 20th and Tuesday the 21st, same story: small, weak, choppy. Wednesday the 22nd is basically flat again (98 combined energy).

So here’s the drill: if you’ve got a kite, these onshore days with small wind chop might be your jam. For a paddle surfer, I’d say take a long break. The entire 16 days offers no proper surf. There’s no standout session, no hidden gem. Save your energy for when the forecasts change – and they will, because it’s rare for it to stay this poor around here. Keep an eye on the west windows, but for now, go do something else.

Rusty.

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