Friendly Beaches Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for Friendly Beaches. The water is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, sitting at 56°F.

Right off the bat, Thursday the 20th of August shapes up as the best on offer in this entire 16-day window. Thursday morning brings a clean 7ft swell from the NNE with a light cross-offshore breeze. The combined wave energy is moderate at 525. Thursday afternoon cleans up even more with a solid offshore wind from the WNW, waves still a healthy 6ft from the NNE, and the energy jumps to a moderate 753. This is the standout – solid, clean, and with that offshore breeze locking up the faces. If you can only get one session in, make it Thursday.

Friday the 21st drops off dramatically. Morning has a mere 3ft from the NNE, with energy down to a weak 111. It’s clean with offshore breezes, but just tiny and ordinary. Afternoon is even smaller at 3ft and 89 energy. The weekend from the 22nd to the 23rd sees a new S swell try to show, but it’s small – Saturday morning is a tiny 1ft S swell with a very long 16-second period, but dumpy energy at 87. Saturday afternoon picks up a bit to 2ft S with 239 energy and clean conditions. Sunday is back down to a mere 1.0ft to 2ft S swell. A few small, clean waves but nothing to write home about.

Monday the 24th through Tuesday the 25th is a write-off with poor conditions and messy, short-period windswell. Wednesday the 26th sees a jump in size to 7ft from the SSE, but it’s onshore and choppy – that’s not paddle surf, that’s kite territory.

Looking further out, Thursday the 27th of August is worth a mention. Morning brings a clean 4ft from the ESE with a light cross-offshore breeze and 261 energy. Decent enough. Friday the 28th of August looks promising with a 5ft ESE groundswell, a long 11-second period, and a solid offshore breeze from the WSW. The energy is strong at 743. That’s a good wave, especially for a point or reef, as that long period might wall up a bit straight at a beach break. Saturday the 29th is small and messy, and Sunday the 30th has a clean 5ft S swell in the morning with 360 energy – a solid, clean session.

The first week of September is a bit of a lottery. Monday the 31st of August is tiny and glassy in the morning, 3ft from the S. Tuesday the 1st of September has a weird 2ft S groundswell with a very long 19-second period, but strong onshore winds ruin it. Thursday the 3rd of September morning brings glassy conditions and a 6ft N swell with moderate 327 energy – could be a fun clean session, but the afternoon turns to onshore garbage.

So, bottom line: the real highlight is Thursday the 20th of August, with that solid NNE swell and clean offshore wind. Friday the 28th is the long-range pick – promising but not as locked in. There’s a few gaps of small, poor days in between, but that’s the rhythm here. It won’t stay flat for long.

Rusty.

Read more