Junkyards Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your board and let’s talk about what’s happening at Junkyards. The water’s sitting at 84°F, which is pretty much spot on for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Honestly, for the next week and a half, it's a bit of a flat spell. We’ve got a lot of days coming up with tiny, weak surf, and the wind is mostly cross or cross-off, which keeps things clean but doesn’t do much for the wave quality. The energy is just bottomed out, with values mostly in the single digits or low tens. It’s going to be a lot of staring at a mostly calm ocean. You might see a tiny knee-high ripple on the 8th, but that 19 mph cross-shore breeze is going to chop it up anyway. Nothing to get excited about.

There is a little flicker of life on the 13th. The swell pushes up to 2ft from the SSE, and we get a proper offshore wind from the ENE at 12 mph. The combined energy jumps to 52, which sounds weak, but after all that nothing, it’s something. It's surfable, but it’s still just ordinary – not the kind of day you’d call your mate about. The period is a short 7 seconds, so it’ll be a bit crumbly and lack punch.

The real potential starts building mid-week next week. On the 16th, the swell from the SW pushes up to 3ft with a period of 12 seconds, and the energy starts climbing – first to 154, then up to 268. The morning is blown out by a risk of storms with a 12 mph cross-off, but the afternoon shapes up better. The offshore wind from the E kicks in to 16 mph and things look clean. This is the turning point.

The 17th is where I’m looking. The same 3ft of SW swell is running with a 13-second period, and the energy is strong at 282. The morning is messy with rain and a cross-off wind, but the afternoon goes full offshore from the E at 28 mph. That’s a strong, clean offshore wind that should groom this reef into proper shape. It’ll be harder to paddle into with that wind, but this is the standout day on offer. The direction is bang on for the reef, which loves that SW groundswell.

After that, the swell eases but stays present. The 18th still has some good energy (190 and 124) with the SW swell, but the winds turn onshore and chop things up, so I’d probably give it a miss. The following days see the swell steadily fade back down to nothing again. The long-period energy and late September dates mean this is more of a promising but less certain call, so keep your fingers crossed for the 17th.

The setup on the 15th with a bit more of a beach-break feel and a strong wind from the ESE on the 17th might actually be more appealing to the kite crowd than us paddle surfers.

Anyway, keep an eye on the end of next week. The 16th and especially the 17th are your best bets. Until then, maybe work on that pop-up.

Rusty.

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