Narrabeen-Alley Rights Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer at Narrabeen-Alley Rights.

We’re in for a strange stretch. Right now, there’s nothing doing – the first recommendation doesn’t pop up until Tuesday morning the 11th of August, and even then it’s pretty ordinary. A small 2ft ENE swell with a period of 9 seconds is rolling in, with a gentle cross-offshore wind that’ll keep things clean. But the wave energy is weak (78), and for an advanced break like this, those ankle-to-knee high waves won’t give you much to work with. Water temp is about average for this time of year. Tuesday afternoon’s a little better on the energy front (96) with an offshore wind, but still small. Wednesday and Thursday drop right off – swells shrink to 1-2ft, and the winds turn messy on Thursday with onshore slop. That run of small, poor surf lasts right through to the end of the week.

The weekend of the 15th and 16th sees some size pop up, but don’t get excited – a short-period 4ft SSE windswell hits Sunday morning with onshore winds, and by the afternoon it’s 5ft and choppy. Wave energy jumps to 207, but it’s poor quality. The following Monday through Wednesday gets bigger again – 7ft to 7ft from the SE with short 8-second periods – but it’s all onshore wind and rain. The energy readings climb into the 400’s and 500’s, which is moderate wave energy, but it’s raw, lumpy and unsurfable for a standard paddle. With that much onshore wind and a beach setup, this looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing through that whole stretch.

Then we get a gap of very ordinary conditions until Friday the 21st of August. Friday morning is the first real standout. The swell drops to 3ft from the ENE with an 8-second period and a glassy wind – the word is “glass” – and the water goes flat calm (129 energy). That’s clean small waves for a cruisy session if you’re on the right board. The afternoon goes choppy again.

Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd offer 4ft ENE swell with gentle cross-shore winds, but the quality is marginal – the wave energy is moderate (258-264) but the cross-shore breeze makes it lumpy. Monday the 24th cleans up with a cross-offshore WNW wind and 3ft swell, but again it’s small and ordinary.

The final standout comes on Wednesday the 26th of August. This one’s a genuine highlight – a solid 8ft SE swell with a cross-offshore NNW breeze, clean conditions, and a wave energy reading of 1330, which is strong. That’s proper groundswell size for experienced surfers at an advanced break. The period is short at 8 seconds, so it’ll be a bit dumpy and fast, but with that size and clean wind, it’s the best wave on offer in the whole outlook. Keep in mind we’re looking more than a week out, so it’s promising but not locked in.

Overall, there aren’t many good windows here. The first half of the outlook is flat or blown out, the middle week is too messy for a paddle, and only a handful of mornings in the second week are worth a look. For this region, that blank run is pretty normal in winter – we cop a lot of windswell with onshore winds. Don’t lose hope though, forecasts can change.

Rusty

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