Manly-South Steyne Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve got a look at what’s coming up for Manly-South Steyne (reef). The water’s sitting at 64°, which is about average for this time of year, so nothing wild there.

The next 16 days start off with a bit of a slow burn. There’s nothing worthwhile from Wednesday afternoon the 26th through to Thursday afternoon the 27th – just poor or marginal conditions with small, weak swell and cross-off or cross-on winds. Then Friday morning the 28th is where it starts to get interesting. We’ve got a clean 5ft SSE groundswell, with a long 11-second period, and a glassy WSW offshore breeze. The combined energy hits 662 (moderate), and the swell is coming from the SSE which is a touch off the optimum S, but it’s still a solid option. This is a standout for the near term – good shape, clean lines, and the reef will handle that long-period energy well. Keep in mind, with a period over 11 seconds, it’s groundswell, so sets will be more spaced but punchy. The break is only for advanced surfers, so it’s not a learner’s wave.

Saturday morning the 29th also looks good – 6ft SSE swell, 10-second period, with a clean cross-off southerly breeze. Combined energy is 804 (moderate), and although it’s a bit bigger, it’s still manageable for the experienced crew. Smooth conditions.

After that, the swell drops off. Sunday the 30th and Monday the 31st are small and ordinary, with most of the afternoons blown out by onshore winds. There’s a gap of a few days with no real recommendation from Tuesday 1st September through to Saturday afternoon the 5th – just small, weak waves and poor conditions.

The next real standout is Monday morning the 7th of September. A solid 7ft S swell, 11-second period, with a clean offshore SW breeze. The combined energy jumps to 1089 (strong), so there’s plenty of power. This is proper groundswell and will be pushing hard on the reef. At 7ft, it’s getting into the range where only experts should be out – beginners should steer clear. The direction is S, which is spot on for this break. This is the best of the longer-range forecast, but it’s a week and a half out, so keep an eye on it.

Tuesday morning the 8th and Thursday morning the 10th both have clean, rideable conditions too, with 4ft and 5ft S swells respectively, and light winds. Decent options but not as strong as the 7th.

Overall, the best bets are Friday morning the 28th and Monday morning the 7th of September. The 28th has cleaner, more manageable swell, while the 7th has bigger power but is for experts only. The rest of the period is mostly small or blown out.

Rusty.

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