Lawrencetown Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty, and here’s your surf outlook for the next 16 days. We’re focusing on Lawrencetown Reef, and the water temp is sitting at 67°, which is a massive 6° warmer than usual for this time of year—that is seriously unusual, so maybe ditch the thick wettie.

The swell story starts pretty flat and ordinary. There’s a bit of knee-high, 8-second SE swell kicking off on Thursday morning (the 27th of August) with glassy conditions, but the combined energy is only a weak 175, and it’s just “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” It’s not worth paddling out for unless you’re desperate. Friday through Monday is grim—tiny swell, onshore or cross-onshore winds, and poor surf all the way.

Tuesday the 1st of September is a write-off. We’re looking at a 0.7ft to 1ft SE swell with very weak energy (23 and 37), and nothing to get excited about. Then there’s a gap of a few days with no real recommendations.

Now, here’s the standout window. Wednesday the 2nd of September morning looks interesting—a clean 7ft ESE swell (period 6 seconds) with moderate energy of 316, and glassy conditions with light offshore winds. That is a moderate-sized swell, but it’s over 5ft so beginners might find it a handful. By Wednesday afternoon, the swell jumps to 7ft ESE (8-second period) and the energy rockets up to 527, with light onshore wind. The forecast says it’s actually predicted to be too big for this break, so that one’s really only for confident, experienced surfers who know the reef.

Thursday and Friday the 3rd and 4th see the swell hanging around 5ft to 8ft from the ESE and E, but the wind is cross-onshore or strong offshores, which trashes the quality. Combined energy is solid (378 to 925), but the conditions just aren’t there. It’s more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on those days.

Then Monday the 7th of September morning brings another big pulse: a 8ft SW swell (7-second period) with strong energy of 550, and clean conditions with light offshore wind. Again, that’s way over 8ft, so only for experts. The swell direction (SW) doesn’t match the optimum SE direction for Lawrencetown Reef, so the shape might be odd.

Overall, the only session worth getting excited about is Wednesday morning, the 2nd of September. Clean, glassy, 7ft from the ESE with moderate energy—it’s the best on offer. Everything else is either too small, too windy, or too big for the break.

Rusty.

Read more