Kelso (Happy Wanderers) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, this is Rusty. Let’s have a look at the next couple of weeks around Kelso (Happy Wanderers).

Alright, the week starts off with a bit of a tease. The first real chance to wet a line comes Sunday July 12th, with a glassy afternoon. Swell’s coming from the SSW at 5ft, with a solid 12-second period pushing moderate wave energy (619) into the point. Water temp’s sitting at 71°, pretty much bang on average for this time of year. That’s the standout of the whole run—clean, lined-up, and the wind’s dead off the land. You’ll want to be there Sunday arvo.

Then we hit a long, frustrating stretch. From Monday July 13th all the way through to Tuesday July 21st, it’s mostly a write-off. The wind swings onshore from the NE, sometimes howling at 12 to 22 mph, and the surf turns to chop. There’s a flicker on Wednesday July 15th afternoon—glass again, 6ft from the east with 10-second period and moderate energy (679)—but the wave comment flags it as only marginal. Still, if you’re desperate, that’s the next best.

The real kicker comes later. Wednesday July 22nd through to Monday July 27th sees a big run of SSW swell, with size hanging around 4ft to 8ft and long period up to 18 seconds. The combined energy goes ballistic—like 2,037 on Friday July 24th and 1,757 on Monday July 27th—but almost every session has that NE wind blowing cross-onshore at 12-19 mph. It’s messy, lumpy, and not worth paddling out. On the 24th and 25th, when the swell’s over 8ft, that’s expert-only territory even if the wind were good, but with that chop it’s really just a kite-surf show.

To sum it up: Sunday July 12th afternoon is your one true standout. After that, it’s a lot of windblown disappointment until the second week, where promising size gets ruined by onshore slop. The break at Kelso is a point, fairly consistent, but crowds are sometimes an issue—so if you get that Sunday glass, you’ll want to be early.

Rusty.

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