Long Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here.

Alright, let’s chew the fat on Long Reef for the next couple of weeks. Fair warning – it’s looking pretty ordinary for the most part. The first real chance you’ll have to get wet is this Friday morning, the 14th, but even then it’s a modest offering.

Right now, there’s a bit of swell around, but Thursday is a total washout – messy wind, poor conditions, nothing happening. Thursday afternoon the swell bumps up to about 5 feet from the south, but it’s onshore and ugly.

Friday the 14th morning is where I’d aim. It’s not epic, but there’ll be clean 4 ft south swell with a light offshore breeze from the west. The swell period is a short 9 seconds, so it’s not got a ton of punch, but it’ll be clean and rideable. The combined energy is moderate at 266. Water temp’s at 62°F, which is about a degree and a half colder than normal for this time – you’ll want a good wetsuit. The breeze goes a bit cross-onshore in the arvo, so hit it early.

After that, it’s a dry spell. Saturday morning (15th) is marginal with 4 ft from the south and some cross-shore wind, but it’s not worth the drive. Sunday through to the following Thursday morning (20th) is mostly small, onshore, or just plain ordinary. There’s a quick flash on Wednesday the 19th morning with 4 ft from the east-southeast and light cross-offshore wind making things clean, but the swell’s weak and short-period – not worth chasing. Thursday the 20th morning is similar, small and clean but barely enough energy (combined energy of 105) to get your heart racing.

From the 21st onward, it’s a long, slow fade into tiny swell – most days seeing 1 ft to 3 ft, with the odd clean morning but zero push. There’s a slight pulse around the 23rd (Sunday) and 24th (Monday) with clean 3 ft from the east-northeast and offshore winds, but the energy is weak to moderate at best. The 24th afternoon goes glassy, which is nice, but the swell’s only 3 ft with a mediocre 10-second period. Nothing to phone home about.

Now, Thursday the 27th – that’s where things get serious, but not in a good way for a paddle surfer. The swell jumps to 7 ft from the south, with a long 11-second period and a combined energy of 925 – that’s strong. But the wind is a fresh 22 mph cross-offshore, which will tear it up. The following day, Friday the 28th, sees even more energy (1092) with 7 ft south swell and a 12-second period, but again, strong onshore winds at 25 mph – this is a full-on washing machine. At that size and wind, Long Reef is going to be a windy, lumpy mess. I’d honestly say this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing – the swell energy’s there, but the quality is gone.

So, what’s the pick? Friday morning the 14th is your best bet – clean, small fun waves for a few hours before the wind switches. After that, the *only* other thing worth a look is Monday morning the 24th – glassy conditions and clean 3 ft east-northeast swell, perfect for a longboard but not much else.

The rest of the 16-day run is largely flat, onshore, or blown out. There’s a gap of about five days of barely surfable slop in the middle. It’s not a classic winter run, that’s for sure. Keep an eye on the charts though; it tends not to stay poor for long around here.

Rusty.

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