Lakes Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Looks like we’re in for a bit of a slow start at Lakes Beach, with the first real surf worth paddling out for not showing up until the afternoon of Tuesday the 11th. The water’s sitting at 64° right now, which is about average for the time of year, so no drama there.

The first few days are pretty flat and ordinary. Wednesday afternoon the 5th has a tiny 1 ft easterly windswell (36 combined energy) and onshore breeze – not worth your time. Thursday morning the 6th is glassy with a whisper of southerly swell at 1 ft (44 combined energy), but it’s just surfable, nothing to write home about. Friday the 7th morning stays small with 2 ft southerly and clean cross-off wind, but still very ordinary. Saturday the 8th morning is glassy again with 1 ft, but weak. Sunday the 9th gets a little bump to 3 ft from the ENE, but it’s cross-onshore and choppy. Monday the 10th has a solid 6 ft ENE swell (534 combined energy) and clean cross-off wind, but it’s a poor surf call – the setup just isn’t working for paddle surfing at this beach break. If you’ve got a kite, Monday might be your thing.

Now, Tuesday the 11th is where it starts to get interesting. The morning shows 5 ft southerly groundswell with a long 13-second period and 724 combined energy – moderate wave energy, but the wind is cross-off. The real standout is Tuesday afternoon: 4 ft from the south, 12-second period, 576 combined energy, and offshore WSW wind at 3 mph. That’s clean, glassy-offshore perfection. The break is exposed to the swell, and the direction lines up nicely with the optimum S-SE. This is the best on offer in the whole outlook – a proper, clean, fun-sized south swell. Keep in mind, Lakes Beach is a sandbar setup and it’s fairly consistent, but it can get crowded sometimes, so expect a few locals out.

Wednesday the 12th drops right back to 2 ft ENE windswell, with glassy conditions in the afternoon but hardly any push. Thursday the 13th morning is 4 ft SW swell (180 combined energy) with clean cross-off wind, but still ordinary. Thursday afternoon has a 2 ft south swell with a very long 14-second period and 308 combined energy, but the wind is up and it’s marginal.

Friday the 14th is a big one but tricky. The morning has 8 ft south swell at 12 seconds (1431 combined energy) and offshore wind – that’s strong wave energy. But the guidance says the swell is too big for this break. That’s expert-only territory, and even then, it might be a washing machine. Same story Friday afternoon: 7 ft, cross-shore, also too big. Saturday the 15th morning is more manageable: 4 ft south swell (365 combined energy) with clean cross-off wind – a solid, good session. The rest of the second week sees a mix of smaller stuff and more oversized swells. Sunday the 16th is small and deteriorating. Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th have 10 ft south swells with strong to very strong energy (over 1000 and up to 2128 combined energy), but again, way too big for this break – only for the brave and experienced. Wednesday the 19th stays big at 8 ft with onshore wind, poor. Thursday the 20th drops to 6 ft SSE swell with clean cross-off wind in the morning – marginal but at least surfable.

So, the real standout is Tuesday the 11th afternoon – that’s your window. The Tuesday the 11th morning is also decent. Saturday the 15th morning is a solid backup. Everything else is either too small, too big, or just ordinary.

Rusty.

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