Horse Trails Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let's get into it. The long-range picture here is a bit of a slow burn with some serious, possibly too serious, size later on. We're starting off with some small, clean-ish windows, but the real action is going to be watching the swell ramp up.

First up, Horse Trails. This is a sandbar setup that's fairly exposed, and it's best when the swell is coming from the southwest. The water temp is about average for this time of year, nothing weird going on there.

For the first few days, from Tuesday the 8th through Wednesday the 9th, it's pretty small. Tuesday morning is your best bet early on, with a clean 3ft swell from the WSW and light 3 mph cross-shore wind. The energy is moderate (476). It's not going to blow you away, but it's surfable. After that, the wind gets a bit messy and the waves drop off, so it's mostly a scratch session.

There’s a decent pick-up on Thursday the 10th. The morning shows a 8ft SW swell, but it’s a bit bumpy with moderate cross-shore winds. The energy jumps up (2215). It's a bit raw, but there's some size there for the intermediate crew. Friday morning the 11th cleans up nicely with a 6ft WSW swell and light cross-offshore winds – that's the cleanest it'll be for a few days.

Then the weekend rolls in. Saturday the 12th has some size, 6ft to 7ft, but the wind is messy again. Sunday morning the 13th looks promising with a 8ft SW swell and clean, cross-offshore winds. That's a solid window with moderate energy (2312).

Now, here’s the standout. Wednesday the 16th of September. The morning is the best on offer. We're talking a massive 15ft WSW groundswell, with a long period of 17 seconds. The energy is absolutely pumping (13090) and the wind is light and offshore. But look, this is serious. Over 8ft, it's for experts only. The swell is too big for this break for most of us, and with a period that long, it'll be a freight train. If you're an expert and you can handle that kind of power on a sandbar, it could be a day of your life. The afternoon has the same size but with onshore wind, so it'll get choppy.

After that, it stays big but gets windy and messy. Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th are blown out with strong winds. The size drops back down over the following days, but we see another big pulse around the 20th and 21st of September, with waves over 12ft again, but this time with cross-shore winds. Again, these are expert-only days, too big for the average surfer.

So, to boil it down: if you want something clean and manageable, get out there Thursday morning the 10th for that building swell, or Sunday morning the 13th for the cleanest 8ft conditions. For the brave and the skilled, Wednesday the 16th is the one to circle on the calendar, but be warned, it's a beast. The rest of the fortnight is a mix of blown-out conditions or size that's just too much for this spot.

Stay safe out there.

Rusty

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