Kawana Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – Kawana Beach is in for a rough stretch over the next couple of weeks. We’ve got a big, messy south-easterly swell rolling in, but the wind is going to rip it apart for most of the period. The water temp is sitting around 69°F, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year.

The outlook kicks off on Saturday the 18th of July, and it’s a tough one right out of the gate. A solid 8ft south-east swell is pushing in, with a period of 10 seconds, and the combined energy is a meaty 1381. But the wind is screaming from the south at 22 mph, cross-onshore, making it a lumpy, poor mess. Not worth your time.

Sunday the 19th gets worse. The swell jumps to a thumping 13ft, energy skyrockets to 2833, but the wind is a brutal 28 mph from the south-south-east, cross-onshore, with rain. This is big, ugly, and dangerous – strictly for experts only, if anyone’s crazy enough. It’s the same story into Monday and Tuesday: all that south-east swell (12ft to 8ft) but with fresh to moderate cross-onshore winds. The surf is consistently poor.

We do get a little window mid-week, around Wednesday the 22nd and Thursday the 23rd, where the swell drops to 4ft to 5ft and the wind lightens off. But it’s a short-period, weak energy (around 169), and the conditions are still described as marginal or poor. Not really worth packing the board for.

Then the wind cranks up again from Friday the 24th through to Sunday the 26th, with another pulse of 10ft south-east swell but 22 mph winds ruining it. The energy is strong (914), but it’s all cross-onshore slop.

From Monday the 27th of July onward, the swell really fades. We’re looking at tiny waves, 2ft to 3ft, with periods dropping to 6 or 7 seconds. The energy is weak (down to 42). There’s a couple of standout moments, though. On Tuesday the 28th, we get a glassy morning with a 2ft east swell and barely a breath of wind – that’s clean, but it’s tiny. Wednesday the 29th morning also shapes up with a light north-west cross-offshore breeze and 2ft, giving us clean but very small waves.

The real highlight, if you can wait, comes on Saturday the 1st of August. The morning is glassy, with a 3ft east-south-east swell, a period of 12 seconds (long-period groundswell), and energy of 231. The wind is a light south breeze, glassy conditions. That’s the best surf on offer in the whole 16-day window. It’s clean, lined up, and the longer period means better shape – but it’s still small, so keep your expectations in check. The break is a beach break, so that long period might make it a bit straight, but with no wind, it’ll be fun for beginners.

Sunday the 2nd of August morning is also glassy, but the swell drops to 2ft – more of a super small session.

Overall, this is a poor run. The first week is dominated by big, wind-blown slop. The second week is tiny but clean. The one standout is Saturday the 1st of August morning – glassy, 12-second groundswell, and surfable. Crowds are possible at Kawana Beach, but with conditions this small, it’ll be quiet.

Rusty.

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