Manly-South Steyne Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright mate, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you, this is a tricky run ahead for Manly-South Steyne. It’s a sheltered reef setup, and we’re looking at a long haul of mostly ordinary conditions before one big, late curtain call.

Right now, we’re in a rough patch. For the first few days, starting Monday 6th July, it’s all about rain and wind. The swell is there, pushing into the 8ft to 12ft range from the SSE and SE, with the combined energy reading a solid 1447 to 2558, but the southerly wind is blowing a moderate to fresh breeze. The setup is messy, and even though the wind is cross-offshore at times, the quality is poor. This is a lot of water but it’s not well-shaped surf. By Wednesday 8th, it’s still chunky but marginal.

Things start to settle down on Thursday 9th July morning. The swell drops to about 6ft from the SE, and the wind goes light, turning cross-off. The energy is down to 819, but the conditions look cleaner. It’s not a standout, but it’s surfable. The water temp is about 64°, which is pretty normal for this time of year.

We drift through Friday 10th and Saturday 11th with small, clean waves in the 4ft to 6ft range, but it’s pretty ordinary. Then we hit a big gap. From Sunday 12th all the way through to Tuesday 14th and beyond, the swell drops to almost nothing. We’re looking at 0.3ft to 4ft of weak, poor-quality surf. The energy plummets to single digits sometimes. This is a proper dead spell.

But hold on, because things get interesting around Thursday 16th and Friday 17th July. A new pulse of southerly swell arrives. Thursday afternoon brings a solid 10ft from the S with strong energy (2600), and the wind is a fresh cross-off, keeping it clean. That’s one to watch, but the real highlight is Friday 17th July morning. We’re looking at a massive 15ft swell from the S with a very long period of 13 seconds. The energy here is enormous, reading 12353. This is the only true standout in the run. Now, at this size, it’s strictly for experts only. That long period groundswell creates some proper, powerful lines, but at a beach and reef setup like this, it can get unruly. If the cross-shore wind holds, it will offer some big, heavy waves.

After that big Friday, Saturday 18th July morning cleans up nicely with glassy conditions and a dropping 6ft swell, which is a nice option for those who missed the big stuff.

So, to sum it up: the next two weeks are mostly a fight. There are a few clean, surfable windows between the 9th and the 11th, but the one date to circle is Friday 17th July morning for that big, powerful, expert-level south swell. After that, it fades out again. Keep an eye on it, the long-range stuff can shift.

Rusty.

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