Fairhaven Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, grab a coffee, because we’ve got a proper mixed bag coming up for Fairhaven. This spot is a rare-breaker, a beginner-friendly zone that doesn’t fire often, so when it lines up, you pay attention. But the story here is a classic case of too much of a good thing for the first week.

We open on Thursday the 10th of September. The water temp is sitting at 57°F, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year. That’s a small win. But the problem is the swell. We’ve got a 13ft SW groundswell rolling in with a long 16-second period, and the combined energy is pumping at a massive 8039. That’s some serious power. For a beginner break like this, it’s simply too big. The wind is a cross-on, so it’s a bit messy. Thursday morning is a write-off for the average surfer. The afternoon is a bit smaller at 12ft, but still way too big and the wind is onshore. Not the day.

Friday the 11th keeps the big SW groundswell going, 10ft with a 15-second period. The energy is still high at 3197. The wind is onshore in the morning, making it a choppy mess. The afternoon is a cross-on, so it’s not great. The forecast calls it marginal, and I’d agree. A no-go for a spot that rarely breaks.

Now, Saturday the 12th is where it starts to get interesting for the experienced crew. The swell drops to 10ft, still a big SW groundswell, but the wind swings around. The morning is a cross-off breeze, and the afternoon… the afternoon goes glassy. Zero wind. For a break that’s already handling a 8ft to 10ft swell, that glassy surface is gold. The energy is still high (2607), but it’s clean. This is the standout of the entire outlook. If you’re an experienced surfer and you can handle that size, Saturday afternoon is your window. The caveat with a 15-second period is that it can be a bit straight on a beach break like Fairhaven, but with that glassy surface, it’ll be holding up.

Sunday the 13th is a sweet follow-up. The swell drops to 6ft, and we get a clean offshore wind from the NNW. The energy is down to 1526, but the conditions are excellent. The morning is the pick, with a gentle offshore. The afternoon stays clean, with a 5ft swell. This is probably the best all-round window for the average surfer—still a bit big for a beginner, but manageable and clean.

Then we hit a wall. From Monday the 14th through to Tuesday the 15th of September, the quality plummets. Monday has a weak, short-period W swell (4ft, 8 seconds) mixed with a chop, and Tuesday sees the swell pump back up to 13ft with a horrible cross-on wind. The energy on Tuesday morning is a massive 10682, but it’s unsurfable. Kite surfers might love that wind and chop, but for paddle surfing, it’s a no-go. This poor run continues through to the middle of the week.

The second week is a bit of a gamble. We get a pulse of cleaner conditions around Thursday the 17th, with a 8ft SW swell and a cross-off wind, but it’s not a standout. Friday the 18th sees another 12ft pulse that is too big for the spot. The real potential pops up on Saturday the 19th—a 7ft SW swell with a clean offshore wind. That’s a solid session for the experienced. Sunday the 20th is a mixed bag, with a good morning but a terrible afternoon.

The very end of the outlook, Thursday the 25th of September, shows a beautiful 13ft SW groundswell with a 17-second period and a clean cross-off wind. The energy is over 8500. Again, it’s too big for a beginner, but for the experienced surfer, that’s a long-period, clean, powerful swell. It’s a long way out, so treat it as a promising rumour, not a solid booking.

The bottom line: Fairhaven is a rare-breaker, and this forecast is a tease. The best of the bunch is Saturday the 12th of September afternoon, when the glassy conditions meet a big, clean SW groundswell. It’s for the experienced. For the beginners, Sunday the 13th morning is your best bet, but it’s still a bit punchy. The rest of the 16 days is either too big, too windy, or just marginal. It’s a classic case of “almost” for this spot.

Rusty.

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