Little Austi and Main Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Look, I've been staring at Little Austi and Main Beach for the next couple of weeks, and I gotta be straight with you – it's a tough stretch. The forecast is pretty grim for most of it, with not a lot of real quality on offer. We're looking at a long, frustrating run of poor surf conditions, with only a few tiny windows where you might get something half-decent. The water temp is sitting right on average for this time of year at 64°, so no wetsuit drama there.

The whole period kicks off with a real dud. Tuesday the 8th, the morning is tiny with a 0.7ft easterly swell and a cross-on southerly breeze at 12 mph, just choppy and messy. The afternoon bumps up to 7ft from the SSE, which sounds promising, but it's a short-period 8-second windswell, and the wind is onshore, making it a marginal, questionable affair. It's one to skip.

Wednesday the 9th is a write-off. Thursday and Friday are no better, with tiny, weak swells and cross-on winds all day. The combined energy is barely registering, with values like 24, 22, and 24 – that's basically flat. Friday afternoon the 11th sees a bit more size at 6ft from the SSE, but again, it's onshore and marginal.

Now, here's a little glimmer. Saturday morning the 12th is our first real standout. The swell drops to 4ft from the SSE, but the wind swings to a light northerly at 6 mph, giving us a clean, cross-off breeze. The combined energy is a solid moderate 382. It's not huge, but it's the cleanest wave we'll see for a while. The water is still 64°, feels about normal. Crowds are "sometimes" a problem here, so for a clear Saturday morning with clean conditions, expect a few people out. After that, it's back to the doldrums.

The rest of the week is a mess. The 13th, 14th, and 15th are all tiny or blown out. Monday the 14th has a light offshore wind in the morning, but the swell is only 2ft – you'd be fighting for knee-high slop. The 16th and 17th aren't much better.

We get another tiny window on Wednesday the 18th. The morning has a light westerly cross-off, and the swell is a meagre 3ft from the NE. Afternoon picks up a little to 4ft from the NE, with a combined energy of 116 (moderate), but it's still just "surfable but very ordinary." It's a paddle for the sake of a paddle.

Looking further ahead to the second week, the 22nd and 23rd of September show some more size. Tuesday the 22nd has a 5ft NE swell in the morning, but it's cross-shore with light wind and a poor surf rating. The afternoon hits 6ft from the NE, but the wind is up to 12 mph from the same direction, creating a cross-chop, and it's rated poor. This is where the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, to be honest.

Then, finally, Wednesday morning the 23rd is our other standout. The swell is a solid 5ft from the NE, with a period of 8 seconds, and the wind is a light NNE at 9 mph, giving us a clean cross-off. The combined energy is a strong 229. This is the best-looking session in the whole forecast. The swell is coming from the NE, which is the optimum direction for this spot. It's a good one for the experienced crew, but at 5ft it's still manageable for strong intermediates. The afternoon, though, the wind gets cross and messy again.

So, to sum it up: don't bother until Saturday the 12th morning for a clean, small window. The real two standouts are Saturday the 12th morning and Wednesday the 23rd morning. The rest of the time, you're better off doing something else. The gaps between decent surf are several days long, so don't hold your breath.

Rusty.

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