L Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a long, hard look at what’s on offer at L Jetty over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be straight with you – it’s a lean stretch.

The entire 16-day window is a bit of a struggle. We’ve got a lot of small, weak swell and onshore or cross-off winds that just aren’t putting anything clean together. There’s a long gap of days with next to nothing worth paddling out for, especially from the 4th right through to the 9th of September. The water is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, sitting at 73°, but that’s about the only thing that’s comfortable.

Let’s break down the few tiny windows of hope.

The best of a very ordinary bunch looks like Wednesday afternoon, the 2nd of September. We’ve got a 2ft swell from the SE, with a period of 10 seconds coming in. The combined swell energy is moderate at 178. The problem is the wind is onshore from the ESE at 12 mph, making it lumpy. The report says “poor surf conditions” and I have to agree – it’s not great, but it’s the biggest swell we see early on.

The real, and I mean *only*, standout worth mentioning is the morning of Thursday the 3rd of September. Thursday morning we get a bit of a lift. The swell drops to 3ft from the ESE, with a period of 9 seconds, but the energy is weak at 96. The wind swings offshore from the WSW at 9 mph, giving us clean conditions. That’s the cleanest we’ll see it. It’s described as “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions,” so don’t expect perfection, but it’s the only time the wind actually helps us. The swell is small, so it’s fine for beginners.

Later that same Thursday afternoon, the 3rd, the wind goes glassy from the N at 3 mph and the swell is down to 1ft. It’s clean, but tiny. There’s a little window on the 16th and 17th where the swell picks up to 3ft-3ft, and the wind is light offshore or glassy, but the period is short (6-7 seconds) and the energy is moderate (103 on the 17th). It’s surfable, but not the kind of day you’d set an alarm for.

Bottom line: there’s no real swell, just a lot of weak, short-period energy. The only chance at a clean wave is that Thursday morning slot. If you’re desperate, you could scratch around on the 2nd or the 16th/17th, but otherwise, give it a miss. L Jetty is exposed, and it’s just not receiving any real groundswell in this window.

Stay patient, lads. Better days will come.

Rusty.

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