New Brighton Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the table for New Brighton Beach over the next couple of weeks. It’s a bit of a mixed bag to be honest, but there are a couple of windows worth getting excited about.

The first few days are pretty tame with small, weak waves. Sunday 26 July and Monday 27 July offer clean, surfable conditions but with minimal push – around 2ft of east swell with a moderate period of 13-15 seconds. The combined swell energy is modest (207 to 225), so it’s really just a knee-to-waist high dribble. The water sits at about 50°, which is pretty much spot on for this time of year, with no real anomaly to speak of.

Things start to look more promising from Tuesday 28 July morning. The swell bumps up to about 4ft from the east, with a period of 13 seconds and the combined energy jumps to (417) – that’s a solid moderate pulse. Winds are glassy from the WNW, making for clean, inviting conditions. This is the first standout of the window. The crowd factor here is “sometimes”, so you might have a few mates out, but nothing crazy for a Tuesday morning. The swell direction is ENE in the guidance optimum, and we’re getting east, which is close enough to work well at this fairly exposed beach.

Wednesday 29 July morning is also a good shout – about 3ft east swell, clean offshore wind from the west, combined energy at (293). It’s a step down in size from Tuesday but still very surfable. A solid little run for the early part of the week.

From Thursday 30 July through to Friday 31 July afternoon, things go downhill with onshore and cross-shore winds and dropping swell. Not worth paddling out for.

Then we get a real highlight on Saturday 1 August. The swell builds to about 4ft from the southeast with a very long period of 16 seconds – that’s proper groundswell energy. The combined swell energy jumps right up to (888), so there’s plenty of grunt in the water. Winds are cross-off from the SSW, keeping things clean. The caveat here is that with a 16-second period, the sets will be well-spaced and the waves might stand up a bit too straight for a typical beach break – but New Brighton can handle that direction and period, especially if you’re an experienced surfer. This one’s a true standout.

Sunday 2 August continues the fun with about 4ft from the ESE, 13-second period, and glassy conditions in the afternoon. Combined energy still strong at around (515 to 522). Another excellent day for a paddle.

After that, the surf slowly fades through the first week of August. There are small, weak, and often windy days from 4 August onward, with combined energy dropping below 100 and swell heights barely reaching 1ft. The occasional clean window pops up, like Friday 7 August morning with about 3ft from the NE and a very short period of 5 seconds – this will be choppy and weak, not really worth the effort. From 8 August onwards, it’s mostly below 2ft and the energy is gone.

So to sum it up: your best bets are Tuesday 28 July morning, Wednesday 29 July morning, and the standout weekend of Saturday 1 August and Sunday 2 August. After that, it’s a long, quiet stretch right through to the end of the forecast window.

This is Rusty, signing off.

Read more