Empty Lots Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. We’re looking at a tricky 16-day stretch for Empty Lots. It’s a reef setup that’s fairly consistent, but the conditions are mostly messy. There’s a long gap right upfront with nothing worth paddling out for. The water temp is sitting at 81°, which is about average for this time of year, so nothing unusual there.

The first real glimmer comes on Saturday the 15th. It’s still marginal, but the wind’s swinging cross-off and the swell’s coming from the east at 5ft, period 9 seconds. The combined energy is moderate at 697. It’s clean, but the short period means the waves will be a bit fat. Not a standout, just a sniff of hope.

Sunday the 16th is where it gets interesting. Swell jumps to 8ft from the ENE, period 11 seconds. Combined energy is strong at 2788. This is proper groundswell, and it’s pushing up to the size where only experienced surfers should be in the water. The wind’s cross-off at 25 mph, keeping the faces clean. This is the best on offer—a true standout, but it’s for advanced crew only. The longer period will favour deeper reef spots, and that ENE direction slants into the optimum SSE, so it won’t be perfect, but it’s the biggest and most powerful window in the whole forecast.

After that, Monday the 17th drops back to 8ft from the ENE, but the wind goes messy again—cross to cross-on, and with a risk of t-storms. Combined energy is still chunky at 1706, but the cross-chop will ruin it. Not worth it.

Then we hit a long quiet spell from Tuesday the 18th through to Friday the 21st, with tiny swell below 2ft and poor conditions. The next chance is Saturday the 22nd afternoon: glassy winds, 2ft from the SSW, long 15-second period. Combined energy is weak at 266, but the glassy surface is a major positive. It’s tiny, but it’ll be clean as a whistle—maybe a fun log wave for those who just want to get wet.

The last real highlight sits on Monday the 24th morning: 2ft from the SSW, period 18 seconds—that’s very long groundswell. Combined energy is moderate at 707. The wind is light from the east, gentle cross-shore. That long period and small size could make for some nice lined-up walls on the reef, especially early. It’s a quiet, glassy session for the patient surfer.

Beyond that, the final days of August and into the 26th show a building trend again, with 5-5ft from the S, period 17-18 seconds, but the wind stays fresh cross-shore with lumpy chop. The energy’s there, but you’ll be fighting the wind.

Overall, the standout is Sunday the 16th—big, clean, powerful groundswell for experts. For a quieter, glassy mellow wave, Saturday the 22nd afternoon and Monday the 24th morning are your best bets. There’s a lot of flat or blown-out doldrums in between, so pick your windows.

Rusty.

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