Nanwan Beach (South Bay) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with ya: the next couple of weeks are a tough watch for Nanwan Beach (South Bay). We’re looking at a long, quiet stretch before any kind of pulse shows up, and even then, it’s not gonna set the world on fire.

Right now, through September 12th and all the way to the morning of the 25th, it’s pretty much flat. The ocean’s giving us nothing to work with—swells are tiny, mostly under 2 ft, with short, weak periods. The combined energy stays low, often just single digits to a few tens (13 to 78), which tells you there’s barely a bump out there. Winds are mostly cross-off from the northeast, so it’s clean, but with no real swell, that doesn’t help. There’s a little spike of energy (41) on the 19th afternoon with a 1.0 ft swell out of the east at a very long 15 seconds, but it’s still too small to surf. Not a single day in this window rates as a go.

Then, from September 25th morning, things finally wake up. We get a proper groundswell filling in from the southwest—4 ft at 11 seconds—with combined energy hitting 280, which is moderate but solid. The wind is cross-off from the northeast, keeping it clean. However, the water temp is sitting at a warm 84° with an anomaly of +0.5°, so pretty average for this time of year. The swell direction (SW) is not the optimum SE for this setup, so it won’t be perfect, but it’s the best we’ve seen. The 26th holds similar energy (188 to 120) with 3 to 3 ft swell, but winds get a bit lumpy on the Saturday morning. By the 27th, the energy drops back under 100 (90 and 89) with smaller 2 ft swell.

Honestly, there’s no true standout here. If you’re itching for a paddle, the 25th afternoon is the pick of a very average bunch—clean, with that 4 ft SW swell. But it’s an intermediate wave at best, and with a period of 11 seconds, it’ll have some shape. Crowds are often a problem here, so expect company. If you’re a beginner, the 25th’s swell is under 5 ft, so it’s fine, but the 26th’s 3 ft is even more manageable if you can handle the lumpy wind.

If you’re a kite surfer, the 24th and 25th have strong cross-shore winds and building swell, so that setup might look better for you than for a paddle surfer.

It’s a long dry spell, mate, but these things happen. Forecasts can change, so keep an eye out.

Rusty.

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