Freshwater Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Rusty here, and I'll be straight with you – this outlook for Freshwater Bay is a tough one. We're looking at a long, long dry spell, so if you've got a board in the car, you might wanna find something else to do for a while.

We kick off on Tuesday the 4th of August with the water already feeling like a bath – that's 70°, which is a massive 8° warmer than normal for this time of year, so very unusual. But the trade-off? The surf is tiny and messy. A weak 1ft SW swell with a short 8-second period isn't doing anything, and a cross-onshore wind is just making it choppy. The wave energy is basically nothing (19). It's a no-go.

Wednesday the 5th sees a bump in size, but it comes with a big price. The swell hits 7ft from the WSW by the afternoon, and that combined energy climbs to a moderate 330. But the period is a pathetic 6 seconds – that's just wind-chop, not surf. Plus, a 25 mph crosswind is making an absolute mess of it. This is one of those days where the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The pattern doesn't let up. Thursday the 6th through to Tuesday the 19th of August is just a parade of tiny, weak swell pulses and poor wind directions. There are a few windows with lighter offshore breezes – like Friday morning the 7th with a NNW offshore, or the morning of Saturday the 15th with a NW offshore – but the swell is pitiful, barely 1ft. The wave energy is often in single digits or low double figures. It's clean but completely flat. You could paddle a log around, but you won't be riding anything.

The strongest looking pulse comes on Wednesday the 13th afternoon with a 4ft WSW swell, but again, a short 5-second period and a gentle cross-onshore breeze makes for poor conditions. It’s just not worth the drive.

There is one date worth a look further out, but it comes with a big "maybe". On Wednesday the 19th of August, we see a morning with a WNW cross-offshore breeze and a swell that has a long period of 10 seconds. The swell height is tiny at 0.3ft, so the energy is nothing (2), but that long period is a tease. If that swell direction and period were to align with a bigger pulse, this reef and point break would fire. As it stands, it's a promise of a future swell, not today's reality.

In summary, there are no good surf options in this entire 16-day window. The forecast shows a blank run that is pretty normal for the area in this kind of settled weather pattern. Keep an eye on the charts, but don't hold your breath.

Rusty.

Read more