Higgins Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty. I’ve got the full 16-day spread for Higgins Beach right here, and I’ll be straight with you – it’s a tough stretch. The forecast is filled with days where the conditions just won’t line up, and good surf is going to be very hard to find.

The water temperature at Higgins Beach is sitting at 64°F with a slight anomaly of -0.5°F, which is pretty much bang on what you’d expect for this time of year – nothing to write home about there.

The first week kicks off from Sunday, August 2nd through to Saturday, August 9th, and it’s a real struggle. We’re looking at small, weak swell with combined energy rarely breaking out of the 20-80 range (42 on Sunday morning, 69 on Monday morning, 83 on Tuesday morning) – that’s weak wave energy for sure. The swell direction is mostly from the SSE or S, which is fine for the exposed setup here, but the periods are short, around 5 to 8 seconds, meaning these are windswells with no real push. Winds are a mess too – mostly cross-onshore from the S or SSW, with speeds between 6 and 16 mph, keeping things choppy and messy. Sunday morning (Aug 2) has poor surf with a 2 ft S swell, and it doesn’t get much better. The only small window of hope comes on Tuesday morning, August 4th, when we get a brief spell of clear skies and a light WSW wind at 6 mph, giving us a cross-off breeze and a relatively clean 3 ft SSE swell. The wave comment even says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions,” and it earns a 1 out of 10 for quality. That’s your best bet in the first week, but it’s still a far cry from good. For the rest of that week, everything is consistently rated as poor.

Then there’s a gap of a few days from Wednesday, August 5th, through to Saturday, August 9th, where nothing is worth paddling out for – the swell drops to 2 ft-1 ft, the energy is in the 20-50 range, and winds are still onshore or cross-shore.

The second week, from Sunday, August 10th to Monday, August 17th, doesn’t offer much more. The swell stays tiny, mostly between 0.7 ft and 3 ft, with the same weak energy levels (13-50 on the combined energy). The swell direction is still predominantly SSE or S, but periods are still short (4-9 seconds). The winds do offer a few cleaner moments, like Monday morning, August 10th, with a light offshore NW wind at 6 mph giving a clean 3 ft S swell, and again on Saturday afternoon, August 15th, with a light offshore NW wind and a clean 2 ft E swell. But the wave comments are all “poor surf conditions,” with the highest score being a 0 out of 10. The last day of the forecast, Monday afternoon, August 17th, has a moderate offshore NW wind at 12 mph and a clean 1 ft SE swell, but it’s just too small to get excited about.

Overall, this is a very lean period for Higgins Beach. The consistent small swell and poor wind quality mean there’s no standout surf on offer. If you’re desperate, that Tuesday morning, August 4th, is the only session that might be worth a paddle, but don’t expect much. The rest of the 16 days are a write-off.

Rusty.

Read more