Fitzroy Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's talk about what's on the menu at Fitzroy Beach.

Right now, the surf is not in a good mood. We've got a big, long-period WSW groundswell pushing in, but the wind is messing it up, making things choppy and cross. The water is sitting at 59°, which is pretty much normal for this time of year, nothing crazy. The wave energy is strong, clocking in at 1347, but it's all for nothing with that wind.

We're looking at a pretty rough run through the weekend and into the start of the week. The swell hangs around 6 ft with that long 15-16 second period, but the wind stays cross or cross-on, so the surf is going to be a mess. Saturday is a total write-off, and Sunday afternoon might offer a slight improvement with a lighter breeze, but it's still not clean.

The first real glimmer of hope comes on Monday, the 20th of July. The swell drops a touch to 5 ft - 6 ft from the WSW, but the wind swings around and goes light offshore or cross-off. That's the magic word. The water will be clean, and those 14-second period waves will have some proper shape. The energy is moderate (903-1101), but with the clean conditions, this is the best paddle-surfing window of the first week. Tuesday morning also looks clean with a smaller 4 ft swell, but it's a bit weaker.

Then we get a rough patch. Wednesday and Thursday are small and onshore, so don't bother. Friday the 24th and into the next weekend, the wind howls from the northwest, getting up to 25 mph. The swell builds, but it's short-period windswell and the conditions are just terrible. By Saturday the 25th, you've got 10 ft of messy, lumpy, cross-onshore slop. That's more of a kite-surfing day than a paddle day.

Now, for the true standouts, we have to look ahead. The morning of Sunday the 26th of July is a real tease. The forecast shows a massive 12 ft WSW groundswell with a 15-second period, and the wind is light and cross-off. The wave energy is extreme (5626). But the word is out – it's simply too big for this break. So, a beautiful, clean, giant swell, but not for us.

The real highlight is locked in for Wednesday, the 29th of July. This is the one. The morning shows an 8 ft swell from the WSW with a very long 18-second period, and the wind is glassy. The afternoon is even bigger at 10 ft, still glassy. The wave energy is astronomical (5158 and 4902). This is an expert-only session, because that's a lot of water moving around. The long period will make it a bit tricky at a beach break, but for those who know what they're doing, it's going to be absolutely perfect and clean. This is the standout.

After that, the following Thursday and Friday get messy again with onshore wind, and then the first of August sees another massive swell (15 ft) with perfect offshore winds, but it's simply too big again for Fitzroy, so the window closes for us.

So, to sum it up: the first week is a write-off until Monday the 20th, which is your best early call. The one true standout, the one to circle on the calendar, is the 29th of July for the experts. The 31st of July and the 1st of August are beautiful to look at, but dangerous to paddle.

Rusty.

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