Narrabeen-Alley Rights Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll level with you—this 16-day window for Narrabeen-Alley Rights is looking like a long stretch of mostly ordinary, inconsistent conditions. There’s a solid gap of hardly anything worthwhile from now right through until the end of August. We’ve got a real dry spell before a couple of late glimmers show up as we roll into the first week of September.

Let’s start with Tuesday the 18th of August. That afternoon sees some clouds and a cross-onshore E wind at 9 mph pushing into a small 3 ft ESE swell with a short period of 7 seconds. The combined swell energy is weak (161), and the water temp is sitting at 63°, which is about average for this time of year—nothing unusual there. Honestly, it’s choppy and poor.

Wednesday the 19th offers the first tiny highlight—a glassy start to the morning with a clear sky and a light N wind at 3 mph. The swell drops to 3 ft from the ESE, still short-period at 7s, and energy is weak (166). It’s surfable but very ordinary. The afternoon turns messy again with a cross-shore NE wind picking up to 12 mph and a 4 ft E swell at 10 seconds—moderate energy (273) but that cross chop ruins it.

Thursday the 20th through to Sunday the 30th of August is a real grim stretch. Swell heights hover between 1.0 ft and 3 ft, with periods mostly short, and the combined energy rarely cracks triple digits. Winds are often cross-off or offshore, which keeps it clean, but there’s just no power. A few mornings like Wednesday the 26th and Thursday the 27th of August have clean offshore winds (NW at 12 mph on the 27th), but with wave heights around 2 ft-3 ft and energy in the 60-80 range, it’s barely worth paddling out. Crowds at this spot are often an issue, but with conditions this weak, it’ll be quiet.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting—Monday the 31st of August. The morning is glassy with a NNE breeze at 3 mph, and a new groundswell arrives from the SSE at 1 ft but with a very long period of 15 seconds. The energy jumps to moderate (104). That long period means the waves will have some shape and power despite the small size—better for a point or reef, but at a beach/sandbar setup like this, expect it to break a bit straight. It’s clean though.

The standout moment, and the only real highlight here, lands on Tuesday the 1st of September. Early morning, clear skies, glassy conditions with a light ESE wind at 3 mph. The swell holds at 4 ft from the SSE with a 10-second period and combined energy of moderate (239). Expect good surf conditions—clean, lined-up waves with enough push. This is your window. The swell direction is ENE optimum for this break, and while it’s coming from SSE, the offshore wind and clean face make it work. This is the best on offer by a long shot.

After that, Wednesday the 2nd of September fades fast—morning glassy but only 1.0 ft, and the afternoon turns into a messy cross-shore mess.

Bottom line: a long quiet period until Tuesday the 1st of September morning. That’s the one to pencil in—clean, glassy, and some decent SSE groundswell. The rest? Not much to write home about.

Rusty.

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