Narrabeen-Alley Rights Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you—this 16-day window for Narrabeen-Alley Rights is a tough one to read. The good news is there’s a very short, clean window on Wednesday, but after that, it’s a long, frustrating stretch of small, weak, or messy surf until we get a massive, dangerous swell at the very end. Let’s break it down.

We kick off on Wednesday, July 22. Wednesday morning, the swell is 4 ft from the ENE with a period of 10 seconds, pushing a moderate combined energy of 269. The wind is light out of the WNW at 6 mph, keeping it clean. This is your best shot at a decent wave right now—a solid, rippable size for the advanced crew, with that light offshore breeze making it look good. Water temp is about average for this time of year at 64°, nothing unusual.

Wednesday afternoon cleans up even more: the wind goes glassy from the NNE at just 3 mph, and the swell drops slightly to 4 ft but still from the ENE, energy down to 210. It’s clean, it’s glassy, and it’s the standout of the entire first week. Get on it if you can.

Then the wheels fall off. Thursday, July 23, the swell drops to 3 ft, wind swings to the west at 9 mph, blowing cross-offshore, but it’s ordinary. The energy drops to 119. By Thursday afternoon, it’s worse—16 mph WSW wind, surf down to 3 ft, energy 113. The rest of the week is a slow bleed. Friday, July 24, sees 2 ft and 1 ft with cross-shore to cross-onshore winds and energy as low as 28. Saturday, July 25, through to Tuesday, July 28, the swell barely registers—1 ft, 0.7 ft, even 0.3 ft—with occasional long-period groundswell from the SE (13-15 seconds) but no size to back it up, energy in the single digits. It’s flat, it’s frustrating, and it’s a blank run of about 5 days where you’re better off staying home.

The second week doesn’t start much better. Wednesday, July 29, through to Friday, July 31, sees a mix of weak, short-period windswell (4-7 seconds) from the SW and SSE, with some energy lifting to 341 on the 31st, but the wind is onshore or cross-shore, and the forecast says “poor surf conditions.” On Saturday, August 1, the swell jumps to 7 ft from the SE, but with a short period of 6 seconds, strong cross-offshore winds at 16 mph, and energy up to 472. It’s big, but it’s lumpy and messy—more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle session.

Now, here’s the real kicker: Sunday, August 2, shows a brief return to surfable but ordinary waves—4 ft from the SSW, period 5 seconds, energy 111, with light cross-offshore wind. Monday, August 3, morning looks promising: 2 ft from the SE with a very long period of 14 seconds, clean wind from the WNW at 6 mph, and energy of 232—that’s a groundswell with shape, but the size is small and it’s breaking on a beach/sandbar, so it might be too straight. Still, that morning is the next real highlight.

Then, the big one. On Thursday, August 6, the forecast shows a massive 15 ft to 13 ft SSE groundswell with a period of 12 seconds, clean cross-offshore wind from the WSW at 13-16 mph, and energy readings of 5051 and 7392. That’s a serious, powerful swell—but it’s too big for this break. The file says it’s too big, and I’m telling you, unless you’re an expert with a death wish, stay out of the water that day. This is a once-in-a-blue-moon event, but it’s not for paddling.

So, the best on offer? Wednesday, July 22, morning and afternoon. That’s your window. After that, it’s a long wait until Monday, August 3, morning for a clean, long-period session, but it’s small. The rest is either flat, too messy, or dangerously big. Keep an eye on the forecasts, but for now, I’d paddle out on Wednesday and call it a win.

Rusty.

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