Keramas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve been staring at the charts for Keramas and, to be honest, this is a frustrating run. There’s swell in the water almost the whole way through, but the wind is just not playing ball for most of it. We’ve got a solid, consistent supply of SSW groundswell, but it’s coming in with a cross-onshore breeze that’s going to mess up that famous Keramas (Bali) glass. The water is sitting at 81°, which is pretty much what you’d expect for this time of year – no surprises there.

Let’s break it down. From this Saturday, the 29th of August, right through the first week of September, the wind is mostly from the SE. That puts us in a cross-onshore flow, which is going to chop up the surface. We’re looking at chest to head-high sets, around 4 to 6 ft, with periods of 13 to 18 seconds – so there’s proper energy in the water (combined energy readings bouncing between 941 and 1997), but it’s going to be bumpy. The only real windows of clean conditions are when the wind swings a little more SSE, giving us an offshore, but even then, the forecast flags it as “marginal” or “poor.” It’s a real shame because the swell is there, but the quality is just not.

There is a small gap of really poor conditions around the 3rd and 4th of September where the swell drops off and the wind is still messy. Not worth paddling out.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. If you can hold out, the second week has some real potential. The standout period looks to be from Tuesday the 8th of September onwards. The wind finally looks like it’s going to ease off and swing more offshore from the SSE and S, especially in the mornings. On the morning of the 8th, we’ve got a 5 ft SSW swell, but the real kicker is the afternoon – a jump to 6 ft from the S with a period of 16 seconds and a massive combined energy of 3065. That’s a strong pulse. Then Wednesday the 9th morning sees 7 ft SSW at 16 seconds, and the wind is light offshore. That is the best looking session on the board: clean, solid 7 ft sets, long period groundswell, and light offshore wind. That’s a proper Keramas day for experienced surfers. It’s a bit big for beginners, but for anyone comfortable in the 6 ft range, that is the one to target. The afternoon of the 13th of September also looks very promising with a 7 ft SSW swell and a combined energy of 3548, but that’s a long way out, so treat it as a promising possibility rather than a certainty.

So, to sum it up: the first week is a write-off thanks to the wind. Don’t bother. The real action starts from Tuesday the 8th of September, with Wednesday the 9th morning being the absolute standout. After that, there are more windows of clean, offshore conditions with solid swell, so the second week is where you want to be.

Rusty.

Read more