Haggerty's Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here.

Honestly, looking at this 16-day stretch for Haggerty's, it’s a bit of a flat, frustrating spell, especially for the first week or so. We’ve got a long stretch of poor surf conditions from now through mid-August. The swell is tiny, barely moving above 1 ft to 2 ft, with weak energy readings that hover in the low 100s and even dip below 100 at times. The mornings offer up some clean conditions with light cross-offshore breezes, but there’s just no power in the water to make anything of it. We’re looking at a lot of light cross-shore ripples and a fair bit of chop in the afternoons as the wind swings onshore.

The highlight of this whole stretch arrives on Saturday, August 16th. It’s still small, but there’s a pulse of energy from the SSW that bumps the combined energy reading up to 177, with a clean morning forecast and a light cross-offshore wind. It’s not going to be a classic, but it’s the best we’ve got, and at 2 ft, you might find a fun little bank if you know where to look.

Then, the noteworthy blip hits on Monday, August 17th. The swell jumps to 4 ft and the direction swings to the west, but the period is only 6 seconds. That’s short-period, wind-driven junk, so while the energy reading is up at 240, it’s not going to be pretty. The morning has that clean cross-off breeze, though, so there might be some punchy, though crumbly, little waves if the bank is working. Not one for the beginners at that size, but for those comfortable in the water, it’s at least something different.

The long-range stuff from the 7th onward starts to show a little more promise; with periods of 19 seconds and energy readings in the 200s, you can feel that groundswell trying to mix in. But it’s still small, and we’re looking at a lot of days where the wind spoils the party. Friday morning, August 14th, has a long 18 second period SSW swell with energy at 240, but the wind is cross-on, killing the quality.

We’re mostly dealing with pretty ordinary conditions. This is an exposed reef and point setup, so we don’t have the wind issues of a beach break, but we also don’t get any shelter from the cross-onshore flow. It’s not a kite-surfing day out there, but for paddlers, it’s slim pickings. Still, it won’t stay this quiet forever; these things can change. Keep an eye on the charts.

Rusty

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