Mainside Surf Forecast and Surf Report

# Mainside Surf Outlook

Alright folks, let's have a look at what's on offer at Mainside over the next couple of weeks. Straight up, I gotta be honest with you – this stretch is looking pretty bleak. We're staring down the barrel of a 16-day window with nothing but poor surf conditions across the board. Every single morning and afternoon gets a score of zero, so there's no standout session to get excited about.

Starting from Thursday the 13th of August, we've got tiny swell hovering around 2 ft to 2 ft from the north and east-northeast, with short periods of 7 to 8 seconds. Wave energy is weak – sitting at 28 (combined energy) on Thursday morning – and the wind is all over the place, switching from east cross-off to north-northwest cross-on. The surf is clean-ish but just too small to do anything with. Friday and Saturday follow the same pattern: swell drops to 1.0 ft to 1 ft, periods short, and the wind keeps shifting around. We're looking at light cross-shore breezes and poor surf.

Now, Sunday the 16th through Monday the 17th brings a bit of a tease – we get some offshore winds from the southeast, 9 to 12 mph, which keeps things clean. But the swell is still only 1.0 ft from the east-northeast, period around 10 seconds, and energy is just 20. It's offshore and clean, but with barely a ripple to ride. Tuesday the 18th stays similar with cross-off winds and clean conditions, but again, tiny swell.

The first real flicker of hope comes on Thursday the 20th of August. The morning shows a bump to 3 ft from the east, period 9 seconds, and energy jumps to 106 – that's moderate wave energy. We've got fresh offshore winds from the southeast at 19 mph, so the surface will be clean. But by afternoon, the swell collapses back to 0.7 ft. It's a brief window, and with the offshore breeze, it might offer a few small, clean waves for the early birds. Still, 3 ft is pretty small, and the period is short, so don't expect much push.

From the 21st through the 23rd, we're back to ankle-biters – 0.3 ft to 0.7 ft, energy in the single digits, and the wind is all over the place. The 22nd of August afternoon goes glassy with zero wind, which is lovely, but with 0.7 ft swell, it's a flat calm. Not worth paddling out.

Then things get properly wild from the 24th of August onward. Winds ramp up to storm force, hitting 56 mph from the north-northeast on the 25th, creating a massive cross-chop. This is no longer a surf setup – with that kind of wind and the beach-and-reef layout, it's looking more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. Swell tries to come back on the 26th and 27th with 2 ft to 3 ft from the east, period around 9 to 10 seconds, and energy peaks at 132 on the 27th morning. But the wind is gale force from the southwest, cross-onshore, and it's completely blown out. The 28th of August Friday morning sees a lull in wind to 34 mph from the south, cross-off, and clean conditions, but the swell is only 2 ft with energy at 48. Still poor.

Water temperature is about average for this time of year, nothing unusual to report.

Honestly, there's no standout session here. The best you could hope for is the morning of Thursday the 20th of August, with that 3 ft east swell, fresh offshore winds, and clean conditions – but it's marginal at best. The rest of the window is a write-off. When a spot has this many consistent poor ratings, it's just one of those blank runs. Forecasts can change, so keep an eye on it, but right now, I'd leave the board at home.

Rusty.

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