Mooloolaba Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, I'm Rusty, and I've got a look at what's comin' up for Mooloolaba. Let's be honest from the get-go, we've got a real mixed bag here, and it's gonna take a bit of patience to find a window.

The water temp is sittin' around 69°, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year, nothin' too wild there.

The first few days are a bit of a write-off. Tuesday the 11th we've got a tiny 2ft easterly swell with weak energy (84) and a cross-off breeze. It's surfable, but it's very ordinary. Wednesday morning the 12th is the closest we get to a highlight early on – glassy conditions with the wind dropping to zero, but it's still on that same small 2ft, 9-second easterly. The energy is low (79). It'd be a clean, fun little session for a log or a mid-length, but you won't be getting any barrels. The rest of that week is a write-off with tiny surf and onshore or strong cross-off breezes, leading into a big gap of nothing worth paddling out for.

We get a bit of a pulse around Sunday the 16th, but it's messy. The swell bumps up to 5ft and then 6ft, but it's short-period 6-7 second wind swell from the southeast, with moderate energy (180-237). The wind is a strong cross-off, so it'll be clean but the wave quality will be poor, just lumpy and disorganised. That's a hard pass.

Now, things start to look a bit more interesting from Monday the 17th onwards. The swell holds around 6ft to 7ft from the ESE, and the period stretches out to 8-10 seconds. The combined energy jumps right up into the moderate to strong range (350 to 910). The wind stays cross-off from the SSE, which keeps the surface clean. But the forecast calls it marginal, and with that size, it's gonna be borderline for the average punter. It's not a standout, but it's the best of a pretty average run.

The real standout, the one that's got my heart beating a little faster, is Monday the 24th of August. We've got a solid 10ft ESE groundswell hitting in the morning, with a period of 9 seconds and a massive combined energy of 1135! That's serious energy. This is a big, powerful swell. The wind is light and cross-shore from the ESE, so it'll be a little lumpy, but the sheer power will be there. This is only for experts. At 10ft, this is not a beginner's or even a confident intermediate's wave. It's gonna be a heavy, powerful slab. The swell direction is ESE, which is pretty close to the optimum NE direction for Mooloolaba, so it should wrap in reasonably well. The afternoon drops to 8ft, still huge and powerful (972 energy). Crowds are often a problem here, and on a day like this, you can expect the crew who can handle it to be out in force.

The day after, Tuesday the 25th of August morning, is another solid option. The swell drops to a more manageable 6ft from the east, with a 9-second period and moderate energy (529). The wind is a light cross-off from the SSE, which will clean it right up. This is a much better bet for the average good surfer. It's still got some size, but it's not the absolute beast of the day before. The break is a beach and reef setup, so it can handle a bit of swell. Expect a crowd.

So, to wrap it up: The first week is a total flop. The second week has some size, but it's messy. Your best bet, the standout, is Monday the 24th of August for the big-wave chargers, and Tuesday the 25th of August for the strong intermediate to advanced crew. The rest is just waiting for the next forecast.

Rusty.

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