Iluka-North Wall Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty.

Look, I’m going to be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for a proper surf along this stretch. We’ve got a run of small, wind-affected, and generally messy conditions that’ll have you staring at the ocean wondering where the swell went. It’s not all doom and gloom, but you’ll need to be patient.

The first week is a write-off, to be honest. We start off with a bit of cross-onshore breeze and a short-period, 7ft SSE swell on Friday the 11th, but it’s chopped up and poor. That drops quickly, and we’re stuck with small, weak surf through the weekend and into the start of next week. The energy is weak, with readings down around the 100s and even into the 50s and 60s. It’s tiny, mostly under 3ft, and the wind is all over the shop.

Then we get a pulse of real size around Wednesday the 16th. The swell jumps to 10ft and then 13ft, with strong southerly winds. The energy numbers blow out to 1247 and 2437, so there’s plenty of juice, but it’s a mess. The wind is howling cross-shore at 22-25 mph, making it lumpy and ugly. The wave state is described as messy cross-chop, and the surf quality is poor. This is not a day for the ordinary punter. A 13ft wave with that wind is only for the brave, and even then, it looks more like a washing machine than a wave. This setup looks way more interesting for the kite surfers than us paddle surfers.

The rest of that week stays on the big side—8ft to 10ft on Thursday the 17th—but the wind stays cross, and the quality is marginal at best. It’s still not good.

Things finally start to settle down by the following weekend. On Saturday the 19th, the wind drops right out to a light 3 mph cross-offshore breeze. The swell is small, around 3ft from the ESE with an 8-second period, but the conditions are finally clean. It’s not big, and the energy is only moderate at 280, but it’s surfable. This is one of the only times in the whole window where you’ll get a clean look at the waves, so for the hardy few, this is your best bet. It won’t be epic, but it’ll be a real wave.

The next week stays quiet. There’s a small, clean moment again on Monday the 21st morning—a light cross-offshore wind and a 3ft NNE swell. But then the wind picks up again. The last real glimmer is on Friday the 25th. The morning has a light cross-offshore breeze and a 3ft ESE swell. The energy is back up a little at 244, and it looks clean. But the afternoon turns to onshore mush.

So, if you’re looking for the standout, it’s a toss-up between the clean but small Saturday the 19th and Friday the 25th mornings. Both are small, but they’ll be the cleanest waves we see. Due to the size, these are fine for beginners, as long as you’re not expecting much push. The big southerly pulse mid-week is too big and too messy for anyone but experts, and even then, it’s a chore.

There’s a long stretch from the 15th through the 18th with nothing worth paddling out for, and then again from the 22nd to the 24th with only very marginal options. It’s a lean patch, but the spots around here are consistent enough that it won’t last forever.

The water temp is about average for this time of year, sitting around 69° at the North Wall (Iluka-North Wall) on the first day. Nothing special there.

Stay patient, keep an eye on that wind, and don’t force it on the big days. It’ll come around.

Rusty.

Read more