Freshwater and Harbord Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s break down the surf ahead for Freshwater and Harbord. The next couple weeks are a real mixed bag, but there’s a few windows where it could come together, so don’t write it off just yet.

Right off the bat, it’s flat and messy. From Wednesday the 29th of July all the way through to Friday the 1st of August, the swell is tiny—less than 0.3ft—with a strong cross-off to onshore breeze. The water temp is sitting at 65°, which is pretty much normal for this time of year. Honestly, there’s nothing to ride for the first few days.

The first real glimmer shows up on Saturday morning, the 1st of August. We get a pulse of 6ft swell out of the SSE, period of 10 seconds, and the combined energy jumps up to a moderate 661. The wind is a light cross-shore, so it’ll be a bit bumpy, but you’ll find something to paddle into. It’s still pretty marginal though—definitely a dawn patrol session for the keen ones.

Now, the standout for this run is Sunday morning, the 2nd of August. That’s the pick of the bunch. Swell drops just a touch to 6ft from the SSE, still a clean 12-second period, and the combined energy is a solid 961. The big win is the wind: light cross-off from the NNW, which will set the lines up nice and clean. This is a proper session for a Sunday morning, and the beginner-friendly sandbanks will be working well.

After that, it drops off again. Monday the 3rd has a weak 4ft SSE swell with a 10-second period, and the energy is down to 269. The morning has light offshore winds, so it’ll be clean, but you’ll be scratching around for waves. Tuesday the 4th and Wednesday the 5th are basically flat with poor conditions—1ft and 1.0ft respectively, and the wind goes onshore and cross-onshore.

There’s a gap of a few days with nothing worth mentioning until Friday morning, the 7th of August. That morning, you’ll get a bit of a lift: 4ft from the east, a short 6-second period, but the wind is glassy—dead calm—so the surface will be like a mirror. Combined energy is a weak 126, so don’t expect big walls, but for a small wave, it’s a chance to get wet in perfect conditions.

Then we hit another quiet patch. Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th are mostly small and junky, with the morning holding some cleanish 2ft to 3ft lumps, but the afternoon wind picks up strong and chops it out.

Finally, look ahead to Monday morning, the 10th of August. That’s the second standout of the outlook. A pulse of 6ft from the NE, period of just 7 seconds, and combined energy of 502. The wind is a light cross-off from the NNE, so it’ll be clean. The swell direction isn’t ideal for this sheltered spot, but the size and clean conditions will still give you some fun walls. Keep in mind it’s a short-period swell, so it’ll be a bit crumbly and not as powerful.

From Tuesday the 11th onward, it’s mostly small and messy again, with blustery cross-shore winds and swell under 2ft. The 13th of August has a tiny 2ft pulse from the east with a long 14-second period, but it’s weak (energy 136) and won’t do much at a sheltered beach.

So, to sum it up: the best windows are Sunday the 2nd of August for a solid, clean SSE swell, and Monday the 10th of August for a smaller but clean NE swell. The rest is either flat, small, or blown out. Stay patient, and those mornings that line up will be worth it.

Rusty.

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