Gold Beach/South Park/Hunter Creek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are a real mixed bag, and for the most part, we’re looking at a whole lot of nothing special. The first few days are basically a write-off, and it takes a while before we see anything with a pulse. If you’re keen, you’ll be chasing scraps, not waves.

We start off Monday the 3rd with a bit of a pulse—5ft of NW windswell, but that northerly is howling at 22 mph and it’s all cross-shore, so it’s lumpy junk. The energy reading is weak at 351. Water’s sitting at 55°, which is a bit colder than usual for this time of year, so you’ll want the thick rubber. That afternoon it jumps to 6ft but the wind kicks up to 25 mph and it’s just messy. Tuesday’s not any better; 4ft in the morning, 5ft in the arvo, same cross-shore chop. Wednesday the swell drops off, but the wind goes light cross-onshore, which gives you small, ripply waves—still not worth paddling out for.

Thursday the 6th, the swell bottoms out to 2-2ft from the SW with a long 13-second period, but it’s chopped up by a 12 mph NW breeze. The energy is weak at 212-240. Friday and Saturday the wind gets fresh to strong again, with the swell hovering around 3-5ft, but it’s all cross-shore and lumpy. Sunday the 9th, the swell dies to 2ft, and we’re left with a long-period SW groundswell (16 seconds) that gets torn apart by a strong NNW breeze. The energy reads 267-285 – basically nothing. Monday the 10th is equally flat and choppy.

Now here’s the first bit of hope—Tuesday the 11th. We’ve got a pulse of WNW swell at 5ft with a 9-second period, and the energy reads a solid 746 in the morning. It’s still cross-onshore with a moderate NW breeze, so it won’t be clean, but there’s some push there. It drops back off after that, with Wednesday and Thursday seeing some smaller stuff in the 1-5ft range, all of it still suffering from that cross-shore wind. The energy gets back up to 489 on Thursday the 13th, but it’s short-period windswell and rough.

The second week is where things get a bit more interesting but still nothing to write home about. Friday the 14th has a 5ft NW swell but the wind is howling at 28 mph in the afternoon—just messy. Saturday and Sunday see some long-period SW groundswell building, reading 449-554 in energy, but it’s only 2-3ft and still cross-onshore. Not worth the drive.

The real standout, the one you’ve been waiting for, is Monday the 17th of August in the afternoon. The wind drops out completely to glass, and we’ve got a 2ft W groundswell with a 16-second period. It’s not big, but it’ll be clean, and the energy is a strong 500. This is the cleanest window in the whole run, and for a beach and reef setup like Gold Beach/South Park/Hunter Creek, that’s gold. The morning is still okay but the afternoon is the pick.

Tuesday the 18th has a similar vibe—light SW winds and glassy spells, with a 3ft W swell at 13 seconds in the morning and 3ft in the arvo. Not as good as Monday, but still a chance for a few clean ones.

So, bottom line: the first week is a write-off, and the second week has a couple of windows where it all lines up. The Monday the 17th afternoon is your best bet, and Tuesday afternoon is a decent backup. It’s not a classic stretch, but when the wind goes glassy and the swell’s got some age on it, Gold Beach can still throw you a few. Keep your expectations low, and you might just get a surprise.

Rusty.

Read more