Nine Mile Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, giving you the run-down for the local stretch. Let's be honest, looking at the whole 16-day window, it’s a proper mixed bag. We’ve got some clean, glassy windows early on but they are tiny, and then a big pulse of swell rolls through, but it’s going to be howling. The standout sessions are few and far between.

We’ll kick things off with Nine Mile Reef. The water temp is sitting at 59°, which is about 1° cooler than average for this time of year, so pretty standard, nothing wild.

Right off the bat, we've got a window on the morning of Friday, August 28. The wind is dead calm, glassy as a lake. We’re looking at a 3ft S swell ticking in at 11 seconds. The combined energy is moderate at 299. It’s not big, but with zero wind, it’ll be clean and gentle – a proper beginner-friendly session. This is your best bet for the first week.

The afternoon of Friday and pretty much all of Saturday and Sunday get blown to pieces by onshore winds. The swell builds, hitting 5ft on Sunday morning with a combined energy of 786, but the wind is howling out of the SSE at 16 mph, making it a complete write-off.

Monday the 31st and Tuesday the 1st of September are still messy. Tuesday morning has a bit more push with a 6ft SSW groundswell (14 second period) and combined energy hitting 1176, but the wind is cross-shore. It’s going to be lumpy and a bit of a gamble.

Then we hit a rough patch. From Wednesday, September 2 right through to Thursday, September 4, the swell gets serious. We’re talking 10ft on Wednesday morning with a massive combined energy reading of 5046. That’s a lot of water moving. The problem is the wind is a strong cross-onshore at 19-31 mph. The setup here at the reef will be a washing machine. Honestly, with that much wind and that size, this is looking more like a kite-surfing zone than a paddling spot.

Now, the real contender for the best on offer comes on Saturday, September 5. The morning kicks off with clean offshore wind from the NNW at 6 mph. The swell is a solid 8ft from the SSE at a shorter period of 9 seconds. The combined energy is 922. The wind is clean, but the forecast says this swell is predicted to be too big for this break. This one is for experienced surfers only, and even then, it’s going to be a heavy beast.

After that, the energy drops right off. Sunday the 6th of September has some clean, moderate offshore winds in the morning with a 4ft S swell, but it’s weak. The rest of the second week into Monday, September 7 and beyond is mostly small, weak, and onshore. There’s a small window on the morning of Monday the 7th with glassy conditions and a mellow 1ft SW swell, but the combined energy is a minuscule 128. It’s surfable, but it’s barely a ripple.

The long-range stuff around Saturday, September 12 shows a 4ft SW groundswell with a 15-second period and clean cross-offshore winds, but the combined energy is only moderate at 577. It’s promising, but it’s a long way out and could change. Don't plan your week around it yet.

Bottom line: If you want the cleanest, most user-friendly waves, be on the water Friday morning, August 28. If you’re an expert and hungry for some real power, keep an eye on Saturday, September 5, but respect the forecast warning about the size. Everything else is small, blown out, or too far out to trust.

Rusty.

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