Manly-South Steyne Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Well, I gotta be straight with you – this 16-day window for Manly-South Steyne starts off with a whole lot of nothin' really. We've got a stretch of ordinary conditions that just won't quit.

The first sign of anything surfable is Wednesday morning, 12 August. Manly-South Steyne (reef) is pulling in some 4ft S swell, period around 10 seconds. The energy is moderate (219). The wind is a gentle offshore from the W at 9 mph, which is keeping things clean. It's surfable, but it's just not exciting. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so nothin' special there.

We roll into Thursday 13 August, and the morning is still clean with a light WSW offshore, but the swell drops to 3ft and the period shortens to 8 seconds, making it weak. The afternoon sees a jump to 6ft S swell, but the wind swings SE at 9 mph, puttin' it cross-onshore and choppy. The energy jumps up (753), but it's messy.

Friday 14 August morning is clean again with a 4ft S swell, moderate energy (217), and a light WSW offshore at 6 mph. It's a gentle, clean option, but the afternoon gets ruined by an ESE cross-onshore. Saturday and Sunday, 15 and 16 August, are just a write-off with strong SSE winds and choppy, poor conditions. The swell sticks around in the 4ft to 6ft range, but the quality is just not there.

The whole week from 17 August through to 25 August is a long, sad stretch of poor surf. The swell is small, directions are all over the place, and the winds are mostly onshore or cross-shore. There's a morning on Thursday 20 August that's glassy with a 5ft E swell (354 energy), but it's still rated as ordinary. Then from 21 August, the swell just completely dies, dropping to 0.7ft or 0.3ft. It's a heartbreaking run of flat days.

Now, hold on to your board. The one true standout, the only one that gets my blood pumpin', is Wednesday morning, 26 August. Manly-South Steyne is gonna get hammered by a 13ft S swell. The energy is massive (2530). The wind is a light offshore from the WSW at 6 mph, making for clean conditions. This is expert territory, no doubt about it – way too big for beginners. The period is only 9 seconds, so it's a bit of a wind swell, but with that size and clean offshore wind, it's going to be a heavy, powerful day. The afternoon gets messy with a 12ft swell and onshore E wind, so get in early.

Thursday 27 August is still big at 8ft, but the wind is cross-on from the NNE, making it choppy and poor. So, the one window of greatness is that Wednesday morning. Don't sleep on it.

So, to sum it up: a long, flat, or poor run for most of the outlook, with a single, heavy, expert-only day on the 26th. That's the one to circle on the calendar.

Signing off, Rusty.

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