Inch Reefs Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, this is Rusty. I’ve been staring at the charts for Inch Reefs and, well, it’s a rough run for the next couple of weeks. There’s a lot of swell on offer, but the wind is just about always on it or cross-onshore, ruining the chances. The water temperature is 64°F at the moment, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so that’s one small comfort if you’re getting in the water anyway.

The outlook starts with nothing surfable today, Saturday the 29th of August. There’s a 3ft SW swell (170 combined energy), but it’s a cross-on WNW breeze, so it’s choppy and messy. Not worth it.

Sunday the 30th looks a bit bigger, with swell building to 6ft to 7ft from the WSW (combined energy hitting 606 to 675), but the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, and there’s a risk of thunderstorms. The comments say marginal at best. Monday the 31st stays similar – 5ft to 5ft WSW swell, but cross-onshore wind keeps it choppy and poor.

Tuesday the 1st of September drops off a little to 5ft from the west, with a shorter period of 8 seconds and light to moderate cross-onshore wind. Still poor. Wednesday the 2nd bumps up to 8ft and 8ft from the WSW, but with a shorter period of 8 seconds and onshore wind, it’s just a messy, poor wave. Thursday the 3rd sees a big jump – 15ft to 18ft from the west, with a period of 10 to 12 seconds and combined energy rocketing to 3994 and 9087. That’s some serious power, but it’s a fresh cross-onshore wind, making it lumpy and dangerous. This is expert-only territory, and even then, the wind is against it.

From Friday the 4th, the swell collapses to just 1ft from the SW with a long 14-second period, but the wind is fresh cross-onshore, so it’s flat and choppy at the same time. The next few days stay poor – Saturday the 5th brings back 6ft to 6ft (WSW) with onshore wind, and Sunday the 6th has 8ft to 10ft (WSW) with cross-onshore wind and moderate chop. The combined energy is up to 1733 by Sunday afternoon, but it’s still not clean.

Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th see strong winds – 25 mph from the WNW and W – making it messy with 8ft and 4ft swell. The whole second week is a write-off for paddle surfing, honestly. There’s a lot of energy, but the wind is just no good. If you’re into kite surfing, the set-up with significant swell, poor quality, and strong cross-onshore winds starting Thursday the 3rd and through the 7th and 8th might look interesting for kiting, but not for a surfer.

The only real standout comes on Thursday the 10th of September. The morning has a small 3ft WSW swell with a very long 15-second period, and a light cross-offshore ESE wind. The combined energy is still 670, and the forecast says “expect very good surf conditions.” That’s clean, with good shape potential from that long-period groundswell. The afternoon of the 10th is a different story – the swell jumps to 12ft from the west with a 13-second period, and combined energy hits 3988. The wind is cross-offshore from the SE, and the forecast says it’s “too big for this break.” That’s a shame, because it would be clean. The morning session on the 10th is your best bet across the whole 16 days, but it’s a long way out, so keep an eye on it.

A couple of days later, Saturday the 12th of September has a similar situation – 12ft WSW swell with a long period of 11 to 12 seconds, and a cross-offshore wind in the morning. But again, the forecast says it’s too big for Inch Reefs. The afternoon turns into a near gale cross-shore, so no good.

Overall, it’s a frustrating outlook. The forecast can change, and it tends not to stay this poor for long, so stay hopeful. But right now, the only session with a real chance of being a good one is the morning of Thursday the 10th of September.

Rusty.

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