Japs Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, let's talk about what's on the menu for the next couple of weeks.

First off, I gotta be straight with you, it's a lean stretch. We're looking at a solid 16-day window, but the good stuff is real hard to find. The only break that's even showing up on the radar is Japs Cove, a real tricky reef set-up that's for experts only. It's inconsistent and tucked away, so it doesn't fire often. The water is sitting at 72°F right now, which is a solid 7°F warmer than usual for this time of year – that's seriously unusual, feels like a bath.

Thursday morning, the 23rd, we start with a tiny 2ft SSW swell, but it's got a cross-on wind and the energy is weak (286). It's a write-off. The wind messes it up all day.

Friday the 24th is the same story – a bit more energy (570) but still cross-on and choppy. Not worth a look.

Now, Saturday morning the 25th is the one and only standout in this whole forecast. The wind drops to glassy, the swell bumps up to 2ft from the SW, and the energy is reasonable (521). The period is a long 21 seconds, so it's a proper groundswell, but with that long period at a reef break, it could actually line up nicely. The glassy conditions are a massive positive. It’s the only window that says "expect good surf conditions." It won't be big, but it will be clean. If you're an advanced surfer and can handle the inconsistency, this is your window. Crowds are sometimes an issue, so you might have company.

The rest of the weekend and all of next week is a real grind. Sunday the 26th through to the following Friday, the 1st of August, the swell sticks around 3ft to 3ft, but the wind is almost always cross-on or onshore, making it choppy and messy. The energy levels drop off gradually. The only faint glimmers are on the morning of the 30th of July and the 31st of July, where the wind goes glassy or light onshore, giving a "surfable but very ordinary" vibe. Not worth getting excited about.

Then from the 2nd of August onward, the swell just dies. We're down to 1ft to 2ft with weak energy dropping into double digits (74). The wind stays messy. It's a total flat spell through to the end of the forecast on the 7th of August.

So, bottom line: the only real play is the early morning of Saturday the 25th of July at Japs Cove. It's clean, small, and for experts only. The rest of the 16 days is a long stretch of poor surf.

Rusty.

Read more