Merewether - Ladies Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s cut to it – this 16-day stretch is a bit of a mixed bag. The first real surf shows up Wednesday morning, but it’s rough. We’ve got a 10ft south swell, but the wind is cross-shore out of the SSW at 35 km/h, and the water’s lumpy. The combined energy is 1589, which is solid, but it’s messy. That afternoon it’s even bigger at 12ft, but the wind goes cross-on and it’s just ugly – not worth your time.

Thursday’s still not great – 10ft in the morning, but the wind’s cross off the SW at 25 km/h, and it’s lumpy. The afternoon drops to 8ft but the wind goes cross-on from the SSE, so it’s choppy. The first couple days are a write-off.

Now here’s the good bit. Friday morning, 18 September – that’s the standout early on. The swell drops to a clean 4ft out of the south, period 9 seconds, and the wind is light offshore from the WNW at just 5 km/h. The water’s clean, the energy is moderate at 351, and this little reef at Merewether - Ladies is gonna have some fun, rippable lines. It’s not huge, but it’s clean, and that offshore breeze makes it feel like a different spot. That’s your best surf of the first week, no doubt.

Saturday morning, 19 September, has a tiny 2ft south swell, but the period jumps to 17 seconds – that’s some long-period groundswell, and with a light cross-offshore wind from the west at 10 km/h, it’s glassy. It’s small, but clean. The afternoon though – forget it, the east wind chops it up.

We hit a dry spell after that. Sunday morning the 20th has a knee-high 3ft south swell with a light offshore, but it’s weak – energy’s only 240. Monday the 21st is similar, small and clean but nothing special. Then Tuesday and Wednesday – the wind swings onshore, the swell jumps around but it’s junky, and the conditions turn ugly. By Wednesday the 23rd, we’ve got 7ft of east windswell with a 7-second period, and it’s raining – pure slop, not worth paddling out.

The second week is bleak. From the 24th through to the 1st of October, the swell direction shifts to the east and it just doesn’t have any push – combined energy drops to 100-200, which is weak. The period’s short, 7-8 seconds, so it’s junky and wind-blown. There’s a couple of mornings with clean conditions – like Saturday the 26th, glassy with a tiny 3ft - but it’s so weak you’ll be doing more paddling than surfing. The standout for this whole period is still Friday morning, 18 September – that’s the one to circle.

Water temp is 18°, which is about average for this time of year. If you’re a beginner, that Friday is small enough for you, but anything over 5ft like the early week – give it a miss. The bigger stuff in the first couple days is more for experts, and even then, the wind’s not helping. For the kite surfers, the 23rd with that 7-7ft east swell and fresh cross-shore winds will probably look more interesting than for us paddle guys.

Keep your expectations low for most of it, but if you can get out Friday morning, you’ll be smiling. The rest is just waiting for the next proper swell.

Rusty out.

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