Freshwater Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve been staring at the charts for Freshwater Bay, and I gotta be straight with you – it’s a tough stretch ahead. This is a reef and point break that usually handles a decent swell, but for the next sixteen days, we’re looking at a whole lot of nothing. There’s no real surf on offer, with scores consistently flat. We’ve got a run from now, starting Saturday the 8th of August, all the way through to the end of the period on Sunday the 23rd of August with no recommendations. That’s a long, dry spell. The only upside is that this spot is "fairly consistent" normally, so this blank run is a bit of an anomaly – it tends not to stay this poor for long, and forecasts can change.

Starting off, Saturday the 8th of August afternoon is a write-off. You’ve got a tiny 0.3ft swell from the west with a short 6-second period, and a gentle sea breeze. The combined swell energy is a pathetic 3, so it’s dead flat. Water temp is sitting at 70°, which is a massive 8° warmer than usual for this time of year – that’s very unusual, but there’s no waves to enjoy it in. Sunday the 9th of August morning looks clean with a light northerly offshore, but again, it’s only 0.3ft from the SW. The energy is still only 4. By Sunday afternoon, the wind swings to the SW at 30 km/h, creating a lumpy cross-shore chop on a 2ft, 3-second swell – that’s more of a kiteboarding mess than a surf.

Monday the 10th of August morning stays clean with a light offshore, but the swell is a weak 1ft. That pattern of small, clean but unrideable surf continues through the week. On Tuesday the 11th of August morning, we see a spike to 4ft from the east, but the wind is a fresh 30 km/h cross-onshore, making it choppy and blown-out. The combined energy hits 109, which is moderate, but the quality is poor. Wednesday and Thursday are similar – onshore winds and small, weak swells.

Heading into the second week, the story doesn’t change. Friday the 14th of August morning has a light cross-offshore and a 2ft swell, but the energy is a measly 24. The best we see is on Monday the 18th of August afternoon, with a 4ft swell from the WSW and a fresh offshore wind – that’s clean, but the period is a short 5 seconds, so it’ll be weak and crumbly. The energy is still only 66. Then on Tuesday the 19th of August morning, we get 5ft from the WSW with a light offshore and a combined energy of 110. That’s the biggest, cleanest window, but the swell period is only 5 seconds, so it’s not going to wrap in with any power. For a reef and point like Freshwater Bay, you want longer period groundswell to really work, and this is just short-period wind chop.

After that, it drops right off again. Thursday the 20th of August morning has no data for swell height, and the energy is zero. The rest of the period is flat or tiny, with onshore winds and no quality. Honestly, there’s nothing to get excited about. The setup is more interesting for kite surfing on those windy days than for paddle surfing. Keep the board waxed, and let’s see if the forecasts improve.

Rusty.

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