Iluka-North Wall Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, I'm Rusty. Let me tell you about the surf coming up for Iluka-North Wall.

The next sixteen days are a real mixed bag, but honestly, it's a tough stretch with a lot of average to poor conditions. There's a fair bit of swell around, but the wind and quality just aren't cooperating for most of it. We have a couple of brief windows that are worth setting the alarm for, but don't expect any classic long sessions.

Things kick off on Wednesday the 9th with a bit of energy in the water, but it's blown out. The 5ft swell from the SE with a period of 9 seconds has some energy (354), but the onshore ENE wind at 12 mph is just going to mess it up. It's a no-go.

Thursday the 10th is when it gets a bit wild. We've got a solid 11-12ft SSE groundswell on the Thursday morning, with a period of 9 seconds and combined energy of 1814 (moderate wave energy). That's a lot of water moving. It carries on into the afternoon at 8ft. But the wind is a strong cross-shore from the south at 19 mph, making everything lumpy and messy. The Thursday is not for the faint-hearted. This is serious, big, lumpy stuff – strictly for experienced surfers on the right board, and even then, it's far from perfect. It's going to be a washing machine. For the beginners, that's way too much.

Friday the 11th is still messy with a dropping 7ft swell and cross-shore winds. Remember, it's all cross-shore or cross-onshore, so don't expect any clean lines. The energy is still solid (642), but the quality is poor. The morning on Saturday the 12th will see the swell drop to 5ft, but it's still cross-onshore and mediocre.

We then hit a bit of a flat and quiet patch. The waves drop right down to under 3ft for a few days, with lots of cross-onshore and choppy wind. It's not worth paddling out for.

Now, there is one standout window that actually looks promising. It's on Monday the 14th, specifically the morning. The swell is small, only 2ft from the SSE with a period of 10 seconds and combined energy of 123 (weak wave energy), but the wind is a magical glassy – complete calm, reading "slight air" and "glass". That's what we live for. Even though it's small, that clean, glassy surface will make it surfable and very ordinary looking on paper, but for a quick log or a longboard, it could be a fun little session if you can find a bank. There'll be no crowds as it's just a bit of leftover pulse.

After that, it goes quiet and ordinary again for another week. The swell is tiny, the wind is often onshore or cross-onshore. It's a long, poor run.

Then we get a bit of a hint of the next pulse around the weekend of the 19th and 20th of September. Saturday the 19th has a huge 11-12ft SSE swell forecast for the morning, with a period of 10 seconds and a combined energy of 2091 (strong wave energy). That's a lot of power. But again, the wind is a strong, lumpy cross-shore from the south at 19 mph. This would be a big, bumpy, messy day. Not ideal.

The best of this late period looks like Sunday the 20th of September. The morning has a 7-8ft SE groundswell (period 9 seconds) with a combined energy of 788 (moderate wave energy), and the wind is light onshore from the east at just 3 mph. This is the best we see in the whole window. It's still a bit onshore, but it's light, so the waves will be a lot cleaner than the messy storm chop we had earlier. At 7-8ft, this is still solid for the better surfers, but not impossible for strong intermediates who know their limits. The swell direction (SE) matches the optimum (E) reasonably well, so Iluka-North Wall should pick it up nicely. The afternoon of the 20th holds a similar 7ft with a light onshore breeze. It's not a perfect day, but it's the best we've got in the long range.

Then the final few days of the forecast (21st to 24th of September) are more of the same – dropping swell, onshore and cross-onshore winds. There's a hint of longer period ESE swell on the 23rd (11 seconds) which is a groundswell, but with cross-onshore winds, it's still not a solid recommendation.

Overall, the water temperature is around 68°F, which is normal for this time of year.

So, to cut to the chase: If you can get out on the glassy Monday 14th of September morning for some knee-to-waist high clean waves, that's your best close-in bet. Otherwise, keep an eye on the Sunday 20th of September for a bigger, more solid swell that might clean up.

Rusty.

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