Narrabeen-Alley Rights Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, to be straight with you, the next couple of weeks are a bit of a write-off for any decent surf around Narrabeen-Alley Rights. This is a beach/sandbar set-up at Narrabeen, and it’s facing the wrong way for most of what’s coming.

We’re looking at a long, frustrating gap right from the start. From Thursday 6 August right through to Saturday 15 August, there’s simply no surf worth paddling out for. That’s over a week of tiny, weak, or messy conditions. The swell energy is barely registering – mostly in the 30s and 40s, sometimes a little over 100 but attached to shifty, short-period windswell. Even when there’s a glassy morning on Saturday 8 August, there’s only 1 ft on offer. It’s a real dry spell.

The only time things even *hint* at getting interesting is Sunday 9 August. The morning sees a little bump to 4 ft from the ENE at 9 seconds with a light offshore NW wind, so it’ll be clean. The combined energy climbs to 191, which is at least moving into moderate territory. But it’s surfable waves in very ordinary conditions, nothing to get excited about. The afternoon stays clean with a cross-offshore but a moderate breeze picks up – still not a standout.

We finally get a proper pulse on Friday 14 August afternoon. Suddenly a 8 ft SSE swell at 9 seconds shows up, with a combined energy of 893 – that’s strong. But the wind goes cross-onshore from the ENE, and it’s a beach break, so the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. Still, that energy is real. The following morning, Saturday 15 August, cleaner winds from the WSW at 12 mph and 5 ft of SSE, and by the afternoon it drops to a light breeze with 6 ft of the same swell – combined energy at 474 – and it’s clean. That’s the one bright spot in the whole window: Saturday 15 August afternoon. Expect good surf conditions, but it’s still a beach break, so it’ll be a bit lumpy underneath.

After that, it’s back to a real mixed bag. Sunday 16 August turns ugly with strong onshores, then Monday 17 August offers a short-period 4 ft SSE swell (7 seconds) but with a cross-shore, not ideal. The real glimmer of hope comes much later – Thursday 20 August morning. Clean conditions, a light cross-offshore from the north, and a solid 3 ft ENE swell at 10 seconds with a combined energy of 217 – that’s clean and surfable.

For a standout, it has to be Saturday 15 August afternoon. It’s the biggest, cleanest energy of the whole run. The swell direction (SSE) isn’t ideal for this ENE-exposed break, but with 6 ft and a light offshore wind, you’ll find a few. Crowds are often here, so expect company.

Water temp is sitting around 63°, which is about normal for this time of year, no real anomaly to worry about.

So, a long wait, one proper session, then a tease later in the window. Keep an eye on the forecasts, it tends not to stay this flat for long.

Rusty.

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