National Park Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Looking at the outlook for National Park, it’s a bit of a quiet run overall. The first few days have some small swell, but nothing that’ll get the heart racing. The standout window looks to be Sunday the 30th of August, when a bump in size and reasonably clean conditions line up for a decent session. After that, it really drops away for a long stretch of poor conditions, with nothing worth paddling out for from Monday the 31st of August all the way through to Wednesday the 9th of September. That’s over a week of flat or messy surf. Things might start to look a little more promising again around the 11th and 12th of September, but those are still just surfable, not epic.

Alright, let’s get into it. The first bit of surf worth talking about is on Saturday the 29th of August. National Park will have tiny 2ft waves coming from the east with a short period of 8 seconds. The combined energy is weak (48). The wind is offshore from the SSE at 12 mph, so it’ll be clean and glassy, but the lack of size means it’s more of a longboard or fish kind of day. The water temperature is 69°, which is about a degree and a half colder than usual for this time of year, so a bit cooler than average.

Now, the best offering in this whole forecast is Sunday the 30th of August. We’ve got a jump in swell size to 6ft out of the southeast on Sunday morning, with a short period of 7 seconds. The combined energy pushes up to moderate (396). The wind is offshore from the SSE at 19 mph, so it’ll be fresh and clean. This is a bit bigger, so better for intermediate surfers, and the offshore wind should hold the waves open. That afternoon, the swell drops to 5ft from the southeast with a period of 6 seconds, still clean with a 16 mph offshore breeze, but the energy is weaker (248). This Sunday window is the one to aim for—it’s the only time the size and wind really come together.

From Monday the 31st of August, it all falls apart. The swell tanks back to 1ft to 3ft, with onshore or cross-shore winds and rain showers. The energy is weak to low-moderate at best. This quiet, poor run continues day after day. Through the first week of September, the wind shifts around to the northwest, north, and west, mostly onshore or cross-onshore, with lumpy or choppy conditions. The swell stays tiny, mostly under 2ft, and the periods are short. No size, no quality—just a lot of flat, crummy days.

There’s a slight shift around Wednesday the 9th of September. The swell stays small at 1ft from the southeast, but the period stretches to 16 seconds in the afternoon, which is a very long-period groundswell. Combined energy is (114). The wind is cross-offshore from the east at 9 mph, so it’ll be clean, but the size is just too small for a proper session. The long period means the waves will be fat and straight at a point break like this, so it’s more of a novelty.

Thursday the 10th and Friday the 11th of September see similar tiny southeast swell, with long periods (14 to 13 seconds) and clean offshore or cross-off winds. The energy is moderate (120 to 126). Still, the wave height is only 1ft to 2ft, so it’s only really worthwhile for a very small-wave craft. The direction from the southeast is a bit off the optimum for National Park, which likes ENE swell best, so it won’t be breaking with any power.

Saturday the 12th of September is the last day that’s even surfable, with 2ft to 2ft southeast swell and a period of 12 seconds, clean offshore winds from the ESE at 9 to 12 mph. The energy is low to moderate (116 to 88). After that, Sunday the 13th and the rest of the window is back to flat, poor conditions.

So, in summary: If you want the best of a limited bunch, Sunday the 30th of August is your day. The rest is either flat or just not worth the drive. The long gap from the 31st of August through the 9th of September is a real lull, so plan around it.

Stay safe, and keep an eye on the sky.

Rusty.

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