Indicator Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you. It’s looking flat and pretty sad out there for the next couple of weeks. We’ve got a solid run of small, weak surf and mostly onshore wind messing things up. Don’t get too excited; there are only a couple of windows where you might actually want to paddle out, and even then, it’s not going to be epic.

The first real chance you've got is on Thursday morning, the 13th of August. There’s a little bump of 2ft of southwest swell, with a period of 16 seconds. That’s a long-period groundswell, so it’ll have a bit of push, but the energy is weak, only hitting 125 on the combined scale. It’s breaking at the reef and point here, which is good for this kind of swell. The wind is a light cross-offshore, so it should be clean. It’s surfable, but honestly, it’s pretty ordinary.

After that, the ocean just goes to sleep again. We’ve got a long stretch of nothing from Friday the 14th right through to Tuesday the 18th. Small scraps of swell, but the winds chop it all up. You’ll see the size trying to build a little on Monday the 17th, with 3ft on the afternoon, and then 5ft by Tuesday afternoon, but it’s all short-period wind swell from the west, blown out by a moderate westerly. It’s a messy, choppy mess. Not worth your time.

Now, when we get to the start of the second week, things get slightly more interesting, but I wouldn’t plan any trips around it yet. On Wednesday morning, the 19th of August, we’ve got 3ft of west swell with a period of 7 seconds, and the wind is offshore from the SSE. That’s clean. The energy is moderate, hitting 109 on the scale. It’s a bit short-period, so it won’t have much grunt, but it’s at least rideable. The water is a very unusual 72°F and much warmer than normal for this time of year.

Beyond that, it's a slow fade again. There’s a hint of a better pulse for the 23rd and 24th, with the swell picking up to 1ft and the period stretching out to 18-19 seconds. That long period keeps coming from the southwest, and the energy is moderate again, but the winds turn onshore again. Thursday the 24th morning might give you one more clean, glassy window with that long-period groundswell, but it’s still only 1ft.

Honestly, if you’re desperate, the Thursday the 13th and Wednesday the 19th mornings are the only real options, and they’re not great. This is about as bleak a 16-day forecast as you can get. Let’s hope the models change, because right now it’s a whole lot of nothing.

Rusty.

Read more