Middles/Generals Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Look, I’ve gotta be straight with you – this outlook for Middles/Generals is a bit of a tough one. The water’s sitting at 81°, which is bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there. But the surf? It’s a long 16-day stretch with a whole lot of nothing good on offer. The first solid recommendation doesn’t pop up until the far end of the window, so we’re looking at a big gap of flat, messy, and poor conditions.

Right now, from Monday 3rd of August onwards, it’s a sad story. You’ve got a mix of cross-shore and cross-onshore winds, mostly from the ENE, blowing anywhere from 9 mph to 28 mph. The swell is a weak, short-period affair, with energy readings barely cracking 400 (like 452 on Monday afternoon) and dropping as low as 139 on Friday 7th. The waves are 5 feet or less, messy, lumpy, and choppy – not surfable. It’s all poor surf conditions, day after day, with no break in the pattern. The wind refuses to go offshore, so forget about clean lines. The swell direction is ENE, not matching the optimum ESE, which doesn’t help.

This grim run goes on. There’s a slight bump in combined energy around 12th and 13th August, hitting 747 and 976, but the wind is still fresh cross-shore or cross-onshore, and the conditions are lumpy and poor. No improvement. Come 14th August, the swell picks up to 8 feet, but the energy jumps to 1018 and 1101 – strong wave energy – but the wind is a strong breeze from the ENE, creating messy cross-chop. The wave comment on Friday afternoon is “marginal,” but it’s a one-off rating of 1/10, and honestly, with 8 feet of short-period 8-second swell and 25 mph cross-winds, it’s only for the experts who don’t mind a washing machine. The direction is ENE, still not the optimum.

The rest of the second week into 18th August is more of the same: strong winds, lumpy cross-chop, and poor surf. No standout days, no clean windows. The best you can hope for is that last little blip on 18th August afternoon, where the wind drops to 9 mph, but it’s still cross-onshore and choppy with 3 feet, 10-second swell – not worth paddling out for.

So here’s the bottom line: there are no good surf options in this 16-day window. The area is fairly consistent overall, but this run is a real blank stretch. Forecasts can change though, so don’t lose hope. For now, I’d say the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing with all that wind and chop. Stay patient, and I’ll keep an eye out.

Rusty.

Read more