Fare Left Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. We’ve got a bit of a slow burn ahead at Fare Left, but there are a couple of windows worth keeping an eye on.

The first week is a bit of a write-off, to be honest. Monday and Tuesday are blown out by strong winds, with a solid 8ft to 7ft SSW swell but those 25 to 28 mph winds make it ugly. The wave energy is moderate to strong though – we’re looking at readings of 2980 and 2174 (moderate to strong energy) – but the wind’s just too messy.

The first real glimmer comes Wednesday the 12th of August. Swell drops a touch to 5ft – 7ft from the SSW/S, period stretches to 14-16 seconds, and we get fresh offshore winds from the east. The morning sees clean, lined-up waves, and it only gets better into the afternoon with a clearer sky and a 7ft S swell. Energy is still solid (1512 to 2011). It’s a reef break, so that long period (16 secs) will wrap in nicely. This is the standout window for the early part of the forecast – Thursday the 13th is even cleaner with lighter offshore breezes (12 to 9 mph) and consistent 5ft to 6ft SSW swell. The energy ticks down a bit (1287 to 1045) but the trade-off is glassy conditions. This is when it’s worth paddling out.

From Friday the 14th, the swell fades fast into the weekend, dipping below 3ft by Saturday. There’s a lull through Sunday with only knee-high leftovers. A pulse of short-period S swell (10 secs) bumps up to 5ft – 6ft on Monday the 17th, but it’s short and fat with fresh offshore winds – surfable but not special.

Then we hit the big one. The end of the window, around Friday the 21st of August through to Sunday the 23rd, sees a serious groundswell event. Swell heights climb to 10ft – 12ft from the SSW, with periods of 14 to 16 seconds. The wave energy numbers are massive – 3048 jumping to a whopping 5406 by Saturday afternoon. That’s very strong energy. Now the caveat: it’s going to be big, heavy, and for experts only. The winds are cross-off from the southeast at 19 to 22 mph, so it’ll be clean but strong. This is the true standout of the whole 16-day run – huge, powerful sets, that long period wrapping into the reef. It will be a proper session for those with the skill, but the crowds might be there as it’s known to get busy. If you’re not an advanced surfer, give this one a miss.

All up, the best bets are Thursday the 13th for clean, moderate-size waves, and the big groundswell from the 21st to the 23rd for the heavy stuff.

Water temperature is sitting at a warm 80°F, which is about normal for this time of year – no surprises there.

Rusty.

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