Kaolins Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, mate, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s on the menu for Kaolins over the next couple of weeks.

First up, the water temp is sitting at about 68°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so the rubber might feel a little less necessary on those early mornings.

Right now, and for the entire first week from July 26th through to August 2nd, it’s a total bust. There’s simply no surf worth paddling out for. A solid week of small, weak, and messy conditions. The wind is mostly cross-onshore and choppy, and the swell never gets its act together. We’re talking weak energy readings (between 33 and 171) on waves barely hitting 1 ft to 5 ft, and with periods as short as 5 seconds, it’s barely even a ripple. The only decent conditions are a couple of clean mornings on Monday July 28th and Friday July 31st, but with only 2 ft and 2 ft of swell, there’s just nothing to push you around. You’d be sitting there bobbing, not surfing.

Things get a bit more interesting on the 3rd of August. Come Monday morning, a pulse of 7 ft swell from the SW rolls in, with moderate energy (452). The light SSW breeze keeps things from being completely trashed, but it’s onshore and the period is a short 7 seconds, so shape will be weak and lumpy. The rating is marginal, so it’s a maybe, not a goer.

The real standout, if you can hold out for it, is the 7th and 8th of August. Friday the 7th of August morning sees a solid 8 ft swell from the WSW with strong, powerful energy (1001) and a 9-second period. With only a gentle cross-onshore breeze, it’s not clean but the power is there. That's for the experienced crew only - over 8 ft is into expert territory. The wind picks up in the arvo making it a mess. Then on Saturday the 8th of August morning, we get the biggest pulse of the outlook: a massive 8 ft swell from the WNW with a very long 11-second period and an absolute monster energy reading of 2699. This is legit, heavy groundswell. The problem is a strong 35 km/h cross-onshore wind will blow it out. It’s big and powerful, but messy. The afternoon drops to 6 ft on the same long-period swell (804 energy) with a cross-shore wind, which is a slight improvement but still lumpy.

This Kaolins spot is an inconsistent reef break for advanced surfers, and it only really offers two standout windows. The first is the morning of Monday August 3rd – a bit of a gamble with the onshore wind, but the size is there. The second and best bet is the morning of Saturday, August 8th – if you’re an expert looking for a powerful, big-wave session and you can handle the wind, that’s the day. Keep in mind, with a long period swell like that, it tends to break straight on beach breaks, but on a reef like this, it should hold some nice lines. Crowds are possible on the better days.

For the rest of that second week, it fades back to small, weak slop again around the 9th and 10th.

So, in short: a week of nothing, then a couple of interesting days for the brave and experienced. Keep your eyes on the wind forecasts for that 8th of August morning.

Rusty.

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