Hotel Novotel Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s look at what’s in the water around Hotel Novotel for the next little while.

Honestly, mate, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it – this is a pretty grim outlook for surfers. The whole 16-day window from August 16th through the end of the month is looking at mostly poor conditions. There’s a real stretch of days with very little to get excited about, with the first real gap being pretty much the entire first week. You’re looking at a solid 8 to 9 days of just ordinary, onshore-chop, messy cross-shore slop before anything even starts to look surfable.

The first real glimmer comes on Monday afternoon the 24th. That afternoon, the swell comes in from the east with a wave height of 3ft and a period that jumps right up – 15 seconds! That is a proper long-period groundswell, bringing with it decent energy (the combined energy reading is 968). The wind goes light and clean, so conditions should actually be alright. That’s the one standout across the whole forecast – but, and it's a big but, it’s only giving marginal surf. For a beginner spot, this could be a rare, glassy session to catch a few long lines, but it’s a gamble.

Before that, on Tuesday afternoon the 18th, the wind shifts to a light cross-off breeze and waves come in at 4ft from the east. The period’s short though, only 8 seconds, so it’ll be a little lumpy but surfable. It’s the best of the first week, but not by much.

The rest is pretty forgettable. The easterly and east-southeast swell sticks around but it’s mostly too short-period (6-8 seconds) and cross-shore – that wind just won’t let it clean up. On the 24th, there’s a brief spike of moderate energy (523) Monday morning with 5ft east-northeast swell, but it is blowing hard cross-shore and it’s just messy. The only other half decent window is on Wednesday afternoon the 26th, with a light cross-off breeze and 4ft east swell, but again, just ordinary.

The sessions on the 19th, 20th, 25th, and most of the second week are pretty much write-offs – windy, cross-shore, usually short-period junk. Towards the very end (29th-31st), the swell drops off to under 3ft, energy dips into the low 100s, and it’s just flat to small and choppy. This is a classic case of the area just not seeing any proper swell windows. Stick to the afternoon of the 24th if you really need a paddle – that long-period, clean session is your only real shot, but treat it like a fun novelty, not a full day out.

The only mentionable break here is Hotel Novotel, which looks like a beginner-friendly, fairly exposed east-facing spot, but it gets its fair share of east winds. The water temp is probably about average for the time of year – nothing weird going on with that. Crowds are likely often, but with this forecast, the place might be empty.

Forget the paddle for the first week and most of the second – if you’ve got a kite, that setup on the 24th with the strong east wind and 5ft swell might be a better idea for you than a surfboard.

Rusty.

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