Freshwater West Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what we’ve got on the horizon.

Overall, it’s a pretty grim outlook, if I’m being honest. We’ve got a long stretch ahead with nothing really worth paddling out for at Freshwater West. The whole sixteen-day window is a write-off in terms of decent surf, so you might as well wax the board and leave it in the car for now. The pattern is one long, drawn-out period of onshore and cross-onshore winds, with lumpy, choppy, and generally messy conditions.

The first record we see is for Saturday afternoon the 12th. There’s some swell – about 8ft from the WSW with moderate energy – but it’s being hammered by a fresh 22 mph onshore wind. That’s a no-go; the surface will be blown out. The water temp is 64°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this part of September.

Sunday the 13th doesn’t get any better. The morning has 5ft of WSW swell and a cross-on breeze, leaving things fairly chopped up. The afternoon drops to 4ft, but the wind is still on it. We keep this same story through Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday the 16th sees a little bump in period to 11 seconds on a 5ft W swell, meaning a bit more push behind it, but the wind is a fresh cross-onshore at 19 mph, so it’ll be lumpy and hard to enjoy. Not worth it.

Thursday through to the weekend, we’re stuck with onshore winds, a mix of moderate to fresh breezes, and wave heights bouncing between 3ft and 6ft. The energy stays low to moderate – that 6ft on Sunday the 20th afternoon has moderate energy, but it’s on a short 6-second period and cross-onshore wind. All the potential is stripped away.

Then we hit a real lull. From Monday the 21st, the swell drops hard. By Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re down to 1ft and even 0.7ft. The wind finally goes glassy on Wednesday afternoon, but with only 0.7ft on offer, it’s flat. Not even a ripple to ride.

Thursday the 24th and Friday the 25th bring clean conditions thanks to a cross-offshore breeze, but the swell is still pathetic – 0.7ft to 1ft with a 10-second period, but the energy is weak. That’s a lake, not a surf break.

The very end of the window, Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th, is more of the same: flat, cross-on winds, tiny swell. Nothing doing.

Look, if you’re desperate for saltwater, this setup might actually be more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer during the blowy days mid-period. But for us wave riders? There’s no standouts. Not one good session in the whole two weeks. I’d say hang tight – forecasts can change, but this blank run looks pretty locked in for this spot.

Rusty.

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