Irmas/Leftpoint Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty, and I’ve been staring at the charts for your patch for the next 16 days. Honestly, it’s a grim stretch for Irmas/Leftpoint. The first few days are a write-off, and there’s a long gap of nothing but poor surf conditions until we finally get a window that’s worth paddling out for. Let’s break it down.

There’s no surf on offer at all on Saturday 25 July and Sunday 26 July – the wind is howling out of the ENE at 22 to 25 mph, with messy cross-shore chop and the combined wave energy is high (1307 to 1470), but it’s all wind-affected junk. You’d be fighting a losing battle. Monday 27 July and Tuesday 28 July are still marginal, with moderate cross-shore winds (15 to 19 mph) and the swell is mostly east-southeast, but the period is short (8 to 13 seconds) and the conditions are lumpy. The energy is strong (1357 to 2939), but the quality is poor.

Now, the standout – and I mean the only real standout in this whole 16-day outlook – is Wednesday morning, 29 July. That’s your moment. The wind goes glassy, almost dead calm out of the WSW at just 3 mph, with a solid 10 ft swell from the ENE. The period is 11 seconds, so it’s a proper groundswell with good energy (2604). The water temp is 80°F, which is about average for the time of year. This is excellent surf, but it’s only for the experienced crew – 10 ft is too big for beginners. The break is a reef, so it’ll handle the long period swell well, but it’s “sometimes” crowded, so expect a few others on it. The optimum swell direction for this spot is ESE, and the swell is coming from ENE, so it’s not a perfect match, but the glassy conditions will make it clean. That is the best on offer by a long shot.

After that, things go downhill fast. Wednesday afternoon turns cross-on, Thursday 30 July through to Sunday 2 August are all cross-shore or cross-onshore winds (12 to 28 mph) with lumpy, messy surf. The swell stays around 5 ft to 10 ft but the short period (7 to 8 seconds) and strong wind make it a total mess. The energy is moderate to strong (650 to 1555), but it’s not worth paddling into. The second week – from Monday 3 August to Sunday 9 August – is a boring stretch of poor surf with ENE cross-shore winds (15 to 22 mph) and weak to moderate energy (283 to 910). The swell is small to medium (3 ft to 8 ft) but the period is short (7 to 13 seconds) and the waves are lumpy. No real standouts in that second week, just a blank run of poor conditions.

Overall, the only true standout is Wednesday 29 July morning. The rest of the 16 days is a long gap of poor or marginal surf. It’s a tough run, but it tends not to stay this poor for long – forecasts can change.

Rusty

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