Jelly Bowl Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. This is Rusty, and I’m looking at what’s on offer over the next 16 days for Jelly Bowl. Straight up, this is a tough period. The waves are small, the wind is rarely in our favour, and the quality just never gets there. There are no good surf options in this whole 16-day window. I’d normally say things can change, but with the forecast like this, it’s a long stretch of nothing.

Right now, the water’s sitting at a very unusual 70° – that’s a massive anomaly, almost 7° warmer than what’s normal for this time of year. Feels like a warm bath out there, but it doesn’t help the surf.

We kick off Sunday the 2nd, and it’s a weak 2 ft from the west, period around 9 seconds, but the wind is cross-on from the WSW at 9 mph. Combined energy is only 95, so it’s weak. The report says ‘poor surf conditions’ right from the start, and that’s the theme.

Monday the 3rd is even smaller – 2 ft in the morning, dropping to 0.7 ft in the afternoon. Light cross-onshore wind, tiny chop. Nothing to get out of bed for.

Tuesday the 4th and Wednesday the 5th stay tiny, 1 ft or so. There’s a bit of offshore wind on Wednesday morning, but the swell is basically a ripple. Thursday the 6th is the same story.

Then we get a little bump in energy on Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th. The swell ticks up to 1 ft from the SSW, period jumps to 18-19 seconds, so there’s some long-period groundswell pushing in. The combined energy hits 121 on Friday morning and 143 on Saturday morning. That’s moderate energy, but it’s still tiny wave height. The morning winds are offshore from the south, which is good for clean conditions, but the afternoon swings cross-on, messing it up. And with that long period and a small swell, it’ll be inconsistent and a bit too straight for a reef like Jelly Bowl. Not a goer.

Sunday the 9th through to Wednesday the 13th is a boring stretch – 1 ft, moderate energy in the 100–150 range, mostly cross-on or light offshore winds, but the waves are just too small to do anything with.

Thursday the 14th and Friday the 15th see the energy climb again – 185 and 186 in the morning, and 186 to 196 in the afternoons. That’s solid moderate energy, and the swell height is still only 1 ft to 2 ft from the SSW. The swell direction is off the optimum for Jelly Bowl, which wants SW. Morning winds are light on Thursday, but cross-on on Friday. Still, with that tiny height, it’s not worth paddling out.

The last couple of days, Saturday the 16th and Sunday the 17th, are more of the same – 1 ft and 2 ft, energy in the 150–160 range, cross-on wind. On Monday the 17th afternoon, the swell jumps to 4 ft from the west, with a short period of 6 seconds, and energy hits 265 – that’s moderate energy. But the wind is cross-on from the west at 9 mph, and the period is short and junky. That’s a messy, onshore wind swell. Not for surfing.

So, bottom line: there’s nothing to get excited about here. No standout days, no clean waves, no good wind. It’s a blank run. For an area like this, a dry spell like this isn’t that unusual – you just have to wait for the next proper swell to line up with some decent wind. Keep your eyes on the charts, but don’t hold your breath.

– Rusty

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