Lyall Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s heading our way. It’s a rough start, no doubt about it. For the first few days, the ocean is just angry – strong winds and a boatload of swell making it pretty much unsurfable. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you’re patient.

We kick off with Lyall Bay, and the water temp is sitting at 55°F, which is pretty standard for this time of year – no major anomaly to write home about.

Tuesday the 4th and Wednesday the 5th of August are a write-off. We’ve got a heavy 18ft to 13ft SSW swell ripping in, but it’s getting hammered by gale-force SSW winds, making it a real mess. The combined energy is huge (8140 to 2638), but it’s all for nothing with that wind. The best option for the whole week doesn’t show up until Thursday morning the 6th. We’ll see the swell drop to a much more manageable 5ft from the SSE with a 10-second period, and the wind goes glassy (W at 3 mph). The combined energy is moderate (838). That’s your window – clean, fun waves for an intermediate level. Thursday afternoon holds at 4ft from the SE with a light offshore (NNW 6 mph). That’s the standout of this first week.

After that, it gets messy again. Friday the 7th through to the 11th are all plagued by strong cross-offshore or onshore winds and weak to moderate swell energy. Friday the 7th morning has a very long-period groundswell (16 seconds), but the wind is a stiff cross-offshore (NNW 22 mph), making it poor.

There’s a gap from Friday afternoon the 7th all the way through to Monday the 18th of August – a solid 11-day stretch where there’s basically nothing worth paddling out for. The swell is tiny (1ft to 3ft), and what’s there is either wind-affected or just too weak.

Now, the true standout is way out at the end – Monday the 18th of August. It looks promising. You’re looking at a solid 5ft to 6ft swell from the south with a clean offshore wind (NNW 6-12 mph). Combined energy is moderate to strong (554-770). That’s a fun size, clean surf. Tuesday the 19th of August, it jumps up to a very solid 10ft from the south, glassy in the morning, becoming moderate offshore in the afternoon. Even though the wind is perfect (glassy to offshore), that 10ft size puts it into expert-only territory – way too big for beginners, and at a beach break like Lyall Bay, a 10-second swell like that can be a bit tricky, breaking close together.

So, if you’ve got the skills, keep your eye on the 18th and 19th of August. The 18th is your best bet for a strong, clean swell without it being totally overpowering. For now, you’ve got to wait out the stormy start and the long flat spell that follows.

Stay patient. Rusty.

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