Manly Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here.

Alright, let’s be straight up – the next week and a half is pretty grim for a proper paddle at Manly. We’ve got a few small windows, but nothing that’ll get you out of bed before the sun’s up. The real action, if you can call it that, doesn’t kick in until we’re well into the second week.

We start off with the best of a rough bunch on Saturday morning, the 29th. Manly’s got a clean 4ft SSE swell with a 10-second period, and a light SSW offshore breeze. The water temp is about average for this time of year. The combined energy is sitting at 401 (moderate), and the conditions are clean, so if you’re a beginner or just want a cruisy, small-wave session, this is your window. It’s a point break, sheltered and fairly consistent, but expect it to get a bit busy as it’s often crowded.

That’s about it for the first week, honestly. From Saturday afternoon through to the morning of Tuesday the 8th of September, it’s a write-off. We’re looking at days of onshore junk, small weak swells, and cross-shore chop. The wave energy drops into the double digits (86, 47, 65) by Thursday and Friday – that’s barely enough to push a foamie around. Those “surfable” tags on a few afternoons are generous; it’s just ordinary.

Then, hold on to your board. Tuesday the 8th of September looks like a proper event. An S swell pumps in at 11ft in the morning, building to 13ft in the afternoon, period around 10 to 11 seconds. The combined energy hits 2065 in the morning and a staggering 4082 in the afternoon – that’s strong to very strong. Winds are light and cross-offshore. This is big, powerful, and heavy. If you’re not an expert, you have no business being in the water. The crowd profile won't be an issue because most people will be watching from the beach.

Wednesday the 9th stays big, with 8ft to 10ft S/SSE swell, but the wind picks up to a fresh 15-18 mph offshore. It’s still clean, but that’s a lot of power and a lot of wind. The wave energy remains strong (around 1700). This is still expert-only territory.

After that pulse, we see it slowly drop off into the following weekend, with the swell settling back to 5ft to 5ft on the 11th and 12th, with cleaner conditions but nothing truly standout for the average surfer.

So, to boil it down: the one true standout is Tuesday the 8th of September for the experienced chargers only. Saturday the 29th is your small-wave, beginner-friendly option. The rest is a long stretch of flatness or closeout slop.

Rusty.

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