Lawrencetown Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, grab a coffee and settle in. Rusty here with the look ahead for Lawrencetown Reef.

Well, it’s a bit of a grim start, honestly. We’ve got a solid gap here with nothing worth paddling out for until we hit Saturday the 5th. That’s a few days of flatness or junk to get through first. But from there, things start to perk up for a short window, then it goes quiet again before a very interesting and promising finale.

The first real chance to get wet is Saturday morning, September 5th. The swell is a tidy 5ft coming from the ESE with a period of 8 seconds. The wind is a lovely light, cross-off breeze from the WNW, so it’ll be clean. The combined energy is moderate at 306. It's a decent little session for a beginner-friendly reef break, but nothing to write home about.

Sunday the 6th holds a smaller 4ft to 5ft swell from the east, with a bit more period at 9 seconds. The wind turns offshore from the N and NNE, which is great for shape, but it's blowing a solid 15–18 mph. That’s a fresh breeze, so it’ll be bumpy and a bit of a battle. A hard work session, not a cruiser.

After that, it drops right off. From Monday the 7th all the way through to Friday the 18th of September, it’s mostly tiny or onshore junk. Swell heights barely scrape 2ft for days on end, and the energy is pitiful – down to 14 or 56 at times. There’s a couple of glassy mornings on the 13th and 15th, but with only 1ft to 2ft of swell, there’s just nothing to ride. That’s a long, dry spell.

Now, the standout. The absolute pick of the entire 16-day window is Saturday, September 19th. And I mean this is the one to circle on the calendar. Saturday morning looks magic. We get a solid 7ft swell from the SSW with a short period of 7 seconds, but the wind is dead calm, glassy. Combined energy is strong at 361. That size is a fun, pushy wave for the reef, big enough to get the heart pumping but not out of control. The offshore direction is a perfect match for the optimum SE direction here. It’s going to be clean, lined up, and probably the best morning we’ve seen in weeks. Get it while you can, because by the afternoon the wind swings onshore and messes it up with a choppy 6ft.

Oh, and a note on the water temp: on Friday the 4th it was 67° with an anomaly of plus 7°. That’s much warmer than normal for early September, so it’s a pleasant surprise. The reef should be a little more forgiving than usual.

To be honest, this forecast is a tale of two halves: a whole lot of nothing, then one absolute ripper morning. If you can only make one session, make it Saturday the 19th.

Stay stoked, catchya in the water.
Rusty

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