Johanna Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here.

Right, the long-range picture for Johanna is a proper mixed bag of solid, powerful southwest groundswell colliding with all sorts of wind. We’ve got a window of top-tier conditions early, a stretch of blown-out junk in the middle, and then another serious pulse of energy rolling in at the end, but it’s going to be big and a bit raw.

Let’s get into it. The standout session by a mile is this coming Saturday morning, September 12. We’re looking at clean 12ft SW groundswell with a 15-second period – that’s proper juice with good gaps between sets, making the paddle out doable. The wind is dead calm, glassy, and the energy reading is strong. This is as good as it gets here, with a high score for experts. Johanna (Great Ocean Road) is a beach and point setup, so a long-period swell from the SW is exactly what it wants. Saturday afternoon will still have 10ft, but a light cross-shore will put a few ripples on it, so it won’t be quite as perfect.

Before that, Friday September 11 is still worth paddling out for. Morning has 12ft with a 15-second period and a slight offshore SSW air – clean enough. The afternoon bumps to 13ft with a light cross-onshore, but it’ll be a bit lumpy. This is all from a strong SW swell with moderate wave energy readings.

Now, we’ve got a bit of a lull. Sunday September 13 drops to 8ft and then 7ft, but the NNW/N winds are cross-offshore, so it’s clean, just smaller. The energy is fading. By Monday September 14 it gets ugly – small (5ft down to 4ft) and messy, with stronger winds and poor conditions. Tuesday, September 15, however, is the real kicker. A new SW groundswell hits hard: 16ft in the morning, 15ft in the afternoon, with a 13- to 14-second period. The energy is strong. But the wind is blowing directly onshore, SW. It’s going to be big, probably over 8ft, so that’s expert-only territory and the onshore wind is going to make it challenging, but the power is there. Wednesday September 16 holds that size – 15ft in the morning, 13ft in the afternoon – with lighter southerly onshore winds, so slightly better shape but still a big ocean pushing through.

Thursday September 17 sees the swell start to drop to 12ft but, importantly, the wind swings cross-offshore from the NNW. That’s clean, good shape, with light breezes. A good day for experienced surfers. Friday September 18 has 13ft to 15ft on the way back up, but the wind is more onshore in the afternoon, so the quality will suffer a bit.

Then there’s a poor stretch. Saturday September 19 is all cross-offshore but with a fresh 35 km/h breeze – it’ll be clean but blown-out. Sunday September 20 is a write-off: tiny, messy junk with strong winds – 4ft and 4ft. Gone. Monday September 21 brings some life back with 12ft and light cross-offshore winds, and Tuesday September 22 holds that size with moderate, clean cross-offshore winds. Decent, but nothing mind-blowing.

The final call is for Wednesday September 23. This is the big one. The model is showing a massive 18ft SW groundswell with a very long 17-second period, and the energy reading is enormous. It’s predicted to be too big for this break, and with a moderate cross-onshore wind, it’s going to be heavy and chaotic. The period is so long that it might just close out the beach sections, but for the hell of it, it could be spectacular to watch. Not a day to be a hero unless you’re truly elite.

Thursday and Friday see things drop back to 12ft to 13ft, but the east-southeast cross-shore wind will chop things up. It’s a fade-out.

So, look: the absolute best on offer is Saturday morning, September 12. That’s your glassy winner. The second standout is the big pulse on Wednesday September 23 – huge, powerful, but only for experts who don’t mind a messy, charging ocean. Keep an eye on that Tuesday to Wednesday window; it’s a long way out, so treat it as promising but not set in stone.

Stay safe and surf well.

Rusty.

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