In Betweens Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s happening at In Betweens over the next couple of weeks. Straight up, it’s a rough start – we’ve got a gap of nearly a week with zero worth paddling out for. The forecast is grim from now until the end of August, with poor surf and brutal cross-off winds. The swell is mostly short-period junk with weak energy, and the combined energy values sit around (506 to 699), which is moderate at best but all chopped up.

Come Saturday morning the 31st of August, things start to flicker. We’ve got a 6ft swell out of the ENE with a period of 12 seconds – that’s a longer-period groundswell starting to push in. The combined energy jumps to (1038), so there’s some proper moderate power behind it. Still, the wind is cross-off from the ENE at 25 mph, which is strong enough to keep it lumpy. It’s marginal, but it’s the first sign of life.

Now, if you’ve got patience, the real standout is Wednesday the 4th of September. That afternoon, the wind backs off to a gentle breeze from the ENE at 9 mph, still cross-off, and we get a 5ft swell from the ENE with a short period of 7 seconds. It’s not a classic groundswell, but the combined energy is (518), and the conditions are clean. The rating nudges up because it’s the best in a long dry spell. For surfers who can handle a bit of chop, the morning of the 4th is also okay with a 2ft S swell (14-second period) and glassy conditions – small but clean.

Looking further out to the 5th and 6th of September, the swell really starts to ramp up. On Saturday the 5th, the morning shows a 4ft swell from the E with a period of 16 seconds – that’s a very long-period groundswell. The combined energy is massive at (1415). Then Saturday afternoon it jumps to 6ft from the E, period 16 seconds, energy (2133). By Sunday the 6th, we’re looking at a 10ft ENE swell with a period of 14 seconds, energy through the roof at (3652). That’s strong wave energy, no doubt. But here’s the catch – that size is in the expert range, and the break is a reef setup. Long-period groundswell can be tricky on a reef, but with the swell direction matching the optimum (SSE is the guide, and this is ENE/E, so not perfect), it’s still a big, powerful swell. The wind stays cross-off from the ENE at 16 mph, so it won’t be glassy, but it’ll be clean enough. This is promising, but being over a week out, treat it as a “heaps of potential but keep an eye on it” sort of call.

The water temp is sitting at 80°, with a anomaly of +0.2° – so pretty much average for this time of year, nothing shocking.

Bottom line: the first week is a write-off. The 31st of August is the first hope. The 4th of September afternoon is the pick for a clean, manageable session. The 5th and 6th of September have the biggest swell of the period, but it’s for experienced surfers only. Crowds? In Betweens can get busy sometimes, so don’t expect to have it to yourself.

Rusty, signing off.

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