Narrabeen-North Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you—this stretch looks pretty grim for a proper paddle session at Narrabeen-North. We’ve got a long, quiet gap ahead before anything even worth mentioning shows up. The first real chance of a wave doesn’t arrive until Wednesday the 23rd of September, and even then, it’s a one-off blip in a sea of flat or junk conditions. After that, there’s another quiet stretch before Sunday the 27th afternoon offers a bit more size, but with its own caveats.

The water temperature is sitting at 63°, which is just under two degrees cooler than average for this time of year—nothing to write home about, just a touch on the chilly side.

From now through to Tuesday the 22nd of September, it’s a write-off. Tiny swell, often under 2 ft, with periods all over the place—mostly short period windswell around 5–7 seconds. The combined swell energy is barely registering, mostly single or low double digits (71–83 for the early bits, then dropping to near zero). Winds are a mess: onshore, cross, or strong enough to chop everything up. Monday morning the 14th had clean, cross-off winds and a tiny 3 ft NE swell, but the period was only 6 seconds—weak and gutless, with combined energy of just 71. Not worth the paddle. That’s as good as it gets for the first week and a half, and it’s saying something.

Wednesday the 23rd of September afternoon finally sparks some interest. We get a 4 ft SSE swell, with a period of 12 seconds—that’s proper groundswell energy, and the combined energy jumps to 506, which is strong. Winds are light NNE, cross-off and clean. This is the standout of the entire outlook. Narrabeen-North is an exposed beach/sandbar setup, so a long-period SSE groundswell can be a bit straight-breaking at times, but with clean conditions and that kind of energy, it’s the best on offer. The break is very consistent, so you can expect waves. Crowds are often here, so expect company. This one’s for advanced surfers—the swell size is under 5 ft, so not too big for most, but the power and period demand respect.

Thursday the 24th and Friday the 25th see that energy fade and winds turn sour—strong southerlies on Thursday (30 km/h, 19 mph cross-on) and onshore Friday afternoon ruin any chance. There’s a brief moment Friday morning with glassy conditions and 2 ft NE swell, but it’s weak (combined energy 81) and ordinary.

Then Sunday the 27th of September afternoon brings another notable pulse: 6 ft SSE swell, period 6 seconds (short period windswell), combined energy 288 (moderate). Winds are offshore from the NW at 20 km/h (12 mph), which is a major positive—clean, offshore conditions. For an exposed beach break, 6 ft is getting into advanced territory, and the short period will make it a bit lumpy and less organised than the groundswell earlier. Still, offshore wind on a beach break is a treat. This is the second standout, but less clean than the Wednesday session.

After that, Monday the 28th afternoon sees another big energy reading (511) from a 4 ft SE swell, 12-second period, but onshore SSE winds ruin it completely. Tuesday the 29th is flat.

So the bottom line: if you’re itching for a wave, mark Wednesday 23rd September afternoon as the one to aim for. Sunday 27th afternoon is a backup, but wind could be tricky and the swell is short-period. The rest is a long, flat, or choppy gap. Don’t hold your breath.

Rusty.

Read more