Mckenzies Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. We’ve only got one break in the mix for this stretch—Mckenzies Beach—and it’s a slow start. The first real decent session won’t roll in until Saturday morning the 29th of August, and even then it’s small. Mostly waist-high stuff coming from the southeast, around 3ft with a 10-second swell period, moderate wave energy (189). The magic there is the wind—dead glassy out of the east-southeast at just 3 mph. That’ll keep it clean for a few early waves. Not a stand-out day by any stretch, but for a quiet point break it's worth a paddle for the patient ones. Crowds are often around here, so expect company.

Sunday the 30th is much the same—clear skies, glassy morning, but the swell drops a touch to 2ft from the south at 9 seconds. Wave energy falls to 116. It’s still clean, but tiny. Monday the 31st keeps the pattern alive with a glassy 2ft from the south-southeast, but the period backs off to 8 seconds and energy drops to 96. A bit weak. Still, you can get a slide in before the cross-on breezes mess it up each afternoon.

Tuesday the 1st of September sees a change: clean offshore winds from the north-northwest in the morning, 6 mph, with a 2ft south swell at 10 seconds and 143 energy. Nice and clean. Then Wednesday the 2nd and Thursday the 3rd keep the offshore theme alive—light to moderate northwesterlies, small waves around 1-2ft. Not exciting, but workable for a longboard or a foiler. The standout from this early stretch might actually be Friday the 4th of September. The swell is tiny (1ft), but the afternoon sees a clean offshore from the west at 9 mph, making the most of what’s there. It’s not much, but it’s clean.

Then we hit a bit of a gap. Saturday the 5th is small and clean in the morning, but by Sunday the 6th we get a proper blow—strong offshore northwesterlies at 22 mph with a 5ft short-period northeast swell, 8 seconds, energy at 265. It’s messy and the wind is too strong for good surfing. Monday the 7th stays poor with cross-shore winds and choppy conditions. The real standout won’t come until Tuesday the 8th of September. The forecast shows a solid 12ft southeast swell rolling in, period of 10 seconds, and massive combined energy—2456. That’s serious power. The morning looks clean with light north winds, but hold up—this is too big for Mckenzies. The wave comment warns it’s predicted to be too big for the break. So this one’s for experts only, and only if they know the place handles size. It’s a point break though, so the long-period groundswell might wrap in nicely. Still, caution.

After that, Wednesday the 9th through Thursday the 10th stay lumpy and cross-shore with moderate to fresh winds, waves around 5-8ft, but poor conditions. The next real chance comes Friday the 11th of September. That morning looks good: clean, glassy conditions, southwest wind at just 3 mph, and a solid 4ft swell from the south-southeast, 10-second period, energy of 280. Conditions are expected to be good. That’s probably the best session in the whole run—clean, head-high waves, and the point should handle it well. Crowds likely, but worth it.

Saturday the 12th has a bit of leftover 3ft swell but cross-shore winds in the morning, and by Sunday the 13th it’s small and poor again. So to wrap it up, the standout pick is the morning of Friday the 11th of September—clean glass, decent size, good energy. The Tuesday the 8th of September has the biggest swell but is for specialists only.

Keep an eye on the water temps: the guidance doesn’t give an exact number, but no anomaly flagged, so it’s about average for the time of year at Mckenzies.

Rusty.

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