Moruya Rivermouth Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, checking in on the South Coast.

To be straight with you, the next week and a half is looking pretty average for a surf. We’ve got a heap of small, short-period swell and iffy winds, so the paddle-out is going to be a bit of a grind for not much reward. The good news is, there’s a serious pulse of energy on the horizon, but it comes with a serious warning. The first real standout is a long way off, around Thursday the 13th of August, and it’s a setup that’s only for the experienced. Before that, we have a stretch of about four days where it’s just not worth getting wet.

Moruya Rivermouth is the only spot in the mix. The water is sitting at 63° and is running a touch warmer than normal for this time of year.

For the next few days, from now until midday Monday, it’s a write-off. The swell is small, mostly under 3 feet, with weak energy (67-174 there), and winds are cross or cross-on. It’s choppy and disorganised. You’d be better off doing anything else.

Monday morning (August 10th) brings a change. We get a clean, gentle offshore wind from the west, and the swell bumps up to 5ft from the ENE with a 9-second period. The energy is picking up (321). It’s still small for the rivermouth, and the period is a bit short, but it’s clean and surfable. That’s your first decent window.

Monday afternoon and into Tuesday are a mixed bag. Monday afternoon gets a bit stronger offshore (15 mph) and the wave state is clean, but it’s a bit marginal on the tide. Tuesday morning drops off again, but Tuesday afternoon brings another clean option: 4ft from the SSE with a 10-second period and light offshore winds, with moderate energy (314). That’s probably your best bet for the first week.

Wednesday (August 12th) turns a bit messy with a northerly wind, and the swell is all over the shop—short period and weak for the morning, then jumping up to 5ft from the north in the afternoon with a choppy 6-second period. Not great.

Now, the big one. Thursday the 13th of August is where things get serious. The swell just explodes. Thursday morning we’re looking at a solid 10ft from the south, and by the afternoon it’s pushing 13ft, with a 11-second period and very strong energy (5523). The winds are offshore and clean, but this is way, way too big for the rivermouth. The data is very clear: it’s too big for this break. This is big, powerful, groundswell energy, and it just won’t break right here. It’s a day for watching, not paddling. This is expert-only territory and honestly, even for them, Moruya Rivermouth is not the spot for a 13ft south swell. The swell direction from the south is basically straight into the river mouth, and a long-period south swell will probably just close it out completely.

Friday the 14th (that’s August 14th) is still huge. Morning is 10ft from the south with clean offshore winds and very strong energy (3105), but still far too big. The afternoon drops to 8ft but the wind turns cross-on from the southeast, making it messy and difficult.

The swell slowly backs off over the weekend (August 15-16), but it’s still in the 5ft to 8ft range. Saturday morning has a 8ft SSE swell with a fresh cross-off wind, but it’s still lumpy and big for the spot. Sunday is smaller, but the winds turn onshore and it gets messy again.

From Sunday afternoon (the 16th) onward, it fades away. The energy drops right off (from 616 down to 50-60 by the end of the period), and we’re back to small, weak, and mostly onshore choppy conditions. For the entire second week, there is just nothing on offer. It’s small, weak, and wind-blown. This is a long stretch of poor conditions, from the 16th right through to the 21st. That’s nearly a week of flat, messy dribble. For this area, when it goes flat, it can stay flat for a while, but it always comes back.

So to sum it up: your window is Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon for clean but small waves. The big swell on the 13th is a monster, but it’s a place you don’t want to be. Given the huge size and the strong winds we’ve got coming, if you’re not an expert surfer, this setup at the beachies might be more interesting for the kitesurfers than the surfers. The long-range forecast for the second week isn’t worth even thinking about. It’s a poor run, plain and simple. Forecasts can change, but right now, it’s grim.

Rusty, out.

Read more