New Brighton Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what we're dealing with for New Brighton Beach over the next couple of weeks. I'll be straight with you—it's not looking like a vintage stretch.

Alright, let's be honest from the start: this forecast is a tough one. We’re looking at a long, dry spell with very little to get excited about. The first real chance of anything rideable doesn’t show until the morning of Thursday, 13th August, and even then, it’s a tough sell. The wind is onshore from the ENE at 6 mph, and we’ve got a 7 ft swell coming from the ENE with a short, choppy 8-second period. Combined wave energy sits at 690, which is a moderate push of power, but that short period and onshore wind are going to make it messy and hard to handle. It’s really only for the experienced crew, and even then, you’d have to want it.

We get a bit of a break in the wind on Friday morning, 14th August. The wind swings to the SW at 9 mph, going offshore, which will clean things up nicely. The swell, however, is small—only 3 ft from the E with a 7-second period. Energy is weak at 82. You’ll find some clean, surfable little waves, but it’s ordinary; you won't be missing much if you give it a miss.

The rest of the first week and the start of the second week are a write-off. We get a few mornings with clean, glassy or offshore conditions, notably on the 19th and 20th of August, but the swell is tiny—1 ft to 2 ft. The 19th has a long-period groundswell from the SSE at 18 seconds, but it’s so small and the energy is moderate at 196. For a beach break like New Brighton, that long period and small size means the waves will be fat and straight. Not worth the paddle.

Then we hit another hole. From the 21st right through to the morning of the 24th of August, the surf is virtually flat, with almost no energy. We’re talking combined energy in the 20s and 30s; it’s dead.

Finally, on the afternoon of Monday, 24th August, things pick up a tiny bit. We get a moderate 3 ft swell from the ESE, with a 14-second period and clean, offshore SW wind at 12 mph. Combined energy is 257. This is probably the pick of the entire forecast: clean lines on a long-period groundswell. It’s still small and ordinary, but if you had to pick a time to go, that afternoon is your best bet. The 25th and 26th continue with similar small, clean, but ordinary conditions.

So the honest truth? There are no standouts here. The best you can hope for is small, clean waves on a long-period groundswell during the last few days. If you're a beginner, the 7 ft swell on the 13th is too big and messy. If you're an expert, the clean days at the end are just too small to be fun. For most of this period, the set-up is really more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, given the consistent, clean side-offshore wind but lack of any decent swell size.

Hang in there, it tends not to stay poor for long. Forecasts can change.

Rusty.

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