Japs Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, surfers, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it for Japs Cove.

Look, I’ve gotta be honest with you – this 16-day run is a bit of a dud for a paddle. The swell is tiny, the winds are mostly messy, and the guidance is telling the same story. We are looking at small, weak SSW-SW groundswells, but the problem is the wind just won’t play nice. The wave energy here is all in the weak to moderate range, so nothing is going to have any punch.

Japs Cove is a tricky little reef setup for advanced surfers only. It’s inconsistent, which is not unusual for a spot this sheltered. The water is much warmer than usual for this time of year at 72.7°, which is a noticeable 3.5° above the norm – a real anomaly. But that’s the only highlight.

Starting off this Tuesday, the 8th, we have a rain shower and a cross-shore wind at 15.5 mph. The swell is a pathetic 1.6 ft from the SSW with a period of 13 seconds. The combined energy is weak at 230, and it’s described as poor surf conditions. Zero out of ten. It’s grim.

The whole first week is a write-off. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday – you name it. Swell heights bobble between 1.0 ft and 2.6 ft, but every session has a cross-shore or cross-onshore wind. The period gets up to 17-19 seconds on a few occasions, which would be lovely groundswell, but it’s so small and poorly directed that it’s just not worth the paddle. The wave energy peaks at a moderate 329 on Thursday the 10th, but the wind on the afternoon is SSW at 6.2 mph, which is onshore, making for a sloppy mess.

The second week doesn’t get much better. The swell tries to hold in the 1.6 ft to 2.6 ft range, but the wind remains stubbornly cross-onshore from the SE or WSW. There’s a slight spark on Monday the 21st morning with the swell at 2.6 ft from the SW and a near offshore wind from the SSW at 3.1 mph. The energy climbs to a moderate 383, which is the strongest in the whole period. But it’s still a small wave, and Japs needs more size to be any fun. The rest of that week is more of the same: cross-onshore breezes and mediocre waves.

Honestly, if the swell was bigger, the constant cross-winds and choppy conditions would make this spot look more interesting for kite surfing. But for a paddle surfer, there is genuinely nothing to get excited about here. This is one of those blank runs that can happen here; the forecast will change eventually, but don’t hold your breath on this run.

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