Nai Harn Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Well, I’ve had a good look at the charts for Nai Harn Beach, and if you’re hoping for a classic day out there over the next couple of weeks, I’ve got to be straight with you – it’s looking pretty grim. The whole 16-day window is a write-off for decent paddle surfing. There’s not a single moment I’d genuinely recommend paddling out, and the outlook scores all sit at zero. That’s a long, dry spell for this part of the coast.

For the entire period, from Sunday the 16th of August right through to Monday the 31st of August, we’ve got a constant stream of poor surf conditions. The wind is almost always a cross-onshore or cross-shore, ranging from a gentle breeze to a fresh breeze, keeping the surface lumpy and choppy. There’s just no respite. The water temperature is sitting around 86°, which is about average for the time of year, so that’s no consolation when the surf is this messy.

Let’s run through the low-lights. Sunday the 16th kicks off with 5ft of west swell, but it’s a weak, short-period windswell of 7 seconds and a cross-onshore wind at 19 mph. The combined wave energy is moderate at 213, but it’s all messy. Monday the 17th is similar, with a touch less swell and a bit lighter wind, but still cross-onshore and choppy. Tuesday the 18th drops right off to almost nothing – just 0.3ft and 0.6ft with a very long period that’s essentially just background bump. That pattern of tiny, disorganised swell continues for days.

There is a brief pulse of bigger swell around Thursday the 20th and Friday the 21st, with heights up to 7ft, but don’t get excited. The wind is still a cross-onshore fresh breeze, 19 mph, making it lumpy and poor. On the 21st, we finally see an onshore wind in the afternoon, but the combined wave energy gets up to 418 – moderate to strong – but the quality is shot to pieces. That kind of size and wind at a beach and reef setup would be more interesting for kite surfers than anyone on a paddle board.

The rest of the month just fades into a mix of tiny swell or no swell at all, with that relentless cross-onshore breeze. Towards the end of the month, around the 28th and 29th of August, we see another small spike to 5ft to 6ft, but again, the wind is on it, and the periods are short at 7 to 8 seconds. The forecast confidence for this late in the window is lower, but based on what’s on the table, I wouldn’t hold your breath.

So, what’s the bottom line? There are zero standouts. Zero. It’s a flat, choppy, and unfriendly outlook from start to finish. For an area like this, a blank run is pretty normal when the wind sets in from the west. We just have to wait for a change in the pattern. Keep an eye on the sky, but don’t bother waxing up for a while.

Rusty.

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