Nine Mile Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at what we’ve got on the menu for Nine Mile Reef over the next couple of weeks. Gotta be straight with you: it’s a rough start. The first several days are a write-off.

Imperial

Right off the bat, Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th are a no-go. We’re looking at a strong cross-onshore wind and lumpy, messy surf. The swell is there – 8ft to 10ft from the SSE, period a short 8 to 9 seconds – but it’s just a blown-out, ugly mess. The water sits at 58°, a bit colder than usual for this time of year.

Sunday the 6th is *almost* there. Swell drops to 6ft, but it’s a very long period groundswell of 18 seconds from the SSW. That kind of period means proper energy (combined energy of 2080), but at a reef like this with a cross-onshore breeze, it’s gonna be frustrating. Hard to get into a rhythm.

Now, Monday the 7th is where it gets interesting. The wind goes light and cross-offshore, and we’ve got a clean, 4ft SSW swell. It’s not huge, but the conditions are right for some fun, lined-up waves. The 14-second period will have a bit of punch and those longer lulls. This is a real standout for the near term – a solid, clean option for a beginner-friendly reef.

After that, it gets small. Tuesday the 8th morning is glassy but only 3ft – a little too small for much. The rest of that week stays tiny and mostly blown out by onshore winds.

We hit a dead zone from around Saturday the 12th through to Monday the 14th of September, with strong winds and poor surf, despite some solid 7ft swell. Not worth paddling out.

But then, the long-range window opens up with some real promise. Tuesday the 15th and Wednesday the 16th start to clean up. Wednesday the 16th is a beaut – glassy in the morning (4ft, 12 seconds), then a clean, light cross-offshore breeze in the afternoon with a solid 3ft groundswell. That afternoon session is a sleeper hit.

Then, a big change. On Thursday the 17th of September, the wind goes moderate offshore from the north, and we’re looking at a massive 8ft to 10ft SSW swell. The combined energy is pumping hard at 3565 to 3882. The thing is, for a beginner reef like Nine Mile, that’s just too much. It’s an expert-only affair that day. If you know what you’re doing, it could be a proper, heavy session, but for most of us, that’s a watch-from-the-beach day.

The swell stays big on Friday the 18th, but the wind swings onshore again, ruining it. We end the outlook on Saturday the 19th with a drop back to 6ft, but the wind is back on it.

So, the standout window is Monday the 7th of September for clean, fun waves, and keep an eye on Wednesday the 16th of September for another clean session. The big stuff on the 17th is for experts only.

Rusty.

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