Lake Ferry Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and we’ve got a patchy run of surf at Lake Ferry this next couple of weeks. The good news is, there are a couple of clean windows, but a lot of it’s going to be blown out or just too messy to get excited about. Let’s walk through it.

Saturday the 25th kicks off poor – tiny 0.7ft SSW swell in the morning with a light onshore, and then the afternoon jumps to 10ft but it’s short-period (7 seconds) junk with a fresh 19 mph onshore wind. Not worth paddling out.

Sunday the 26th isn’t much better. Morning shows 5ft S swell at 8 seconds, but it’s cross-onshore with light wind ripples, and the afternoon drops to 4ft with onshore wind. Both are marginal at best.

Monday the 27th stays poor – 4ft and 4ft S swells, both onshore. No fun.

Tuesday the 28th is our first real standout. The morning brings clean 3ft SE swell with 12 seconds of period, glassy conditions and a light northerly breeze – that’s going to be super clean. The afternoon goes even better: 3ft ESE swell, 14 seconds of period, dead calm and glassy. Combined wave energy is moderate (308 and 343), so there’s enough push for a fun session. This is the pick of the first week. The water is sitting about one and a half degrees colder than normal at 52°, so a bit nippy – suit up.

Wednesday the 29th fades. Morning has 2ft ESE swell, 13 seconds, with light offshore wind – clean but small. Afternoon gets blown out by a moderate cross-offshore breeze, and swell drops to 2ft. Thursday and Friday the 30th and 31st are poor – onshores and cross-offshore winds, swell tiny (1–1ft). A full stop on surf.

Saturday the 1st of August we get some life back. Morning brings 3ft SSW swell with 10 seconds, clean with a light cross-offshore breeze. Combined energy is moderate (251). The afternoon bumps to 4ft SSW, same period, still clean. This is a solid session for the keen.

Sunday the 2nd of August is the standout of the whole run. Morning has 3ft SSW swell, long 15-second period, clean. Then the afternoon goes glassy with 4ft SSW swell at 15 seconds and moderate combined energy (553). That is proper groundswell, long period, dead calm – the point or sandbar will be working nicely. For experts, this is the best on offer.

Monday the 3rd goes bad again – onshore winds, 6ft to 10ft S/SSW swell but short period (7-8 seconds) and lumpy. Tuesday the 4th is the same: 10ft, onshore, messy. Wednesday the 5th jumps to 8ft SSW at 13-16 seconds, but with 22 mph onshore wind – big and blown, only for the brave. Combined energy is very strong (2601–3569).

Thursday the 6th and Friday the 7th remain rough – 7ft to 8ft S/SSW swells, cross-onshore winds, choppy. The combined energy is still strong (1495–2333), but the wind kills it.

Then Saturday the 8th of August saves us. Morning brings clean 5ft S swell at 10 seconds, with a light offshore NE wind. Combined energy is moderate (604). The afternoon glassy at 4ft S. That’s a good, clean session to end on.

Sunday the 9th fades – 4ft SSE in the morning with cross-offshore wind, then dropping to 3ft in the afternoon. Not worth chasing.

So, if you’ve got to pick one day, make it Tuesday the 28th for the glassy, long-period ESE swell, and Sunday the 2nd of August for the best long-period SSW groundswell in dead calm conditions. Crowds are possible at Lake Ferry, especially when it’s clean. Everything else is either too small, too windy, or too sloppy.

Rusty.

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