Norman Bay (Wilsons Promontory) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Looks like we’re in for a bit of a frustrating run at Norman Bay (Wilsons Promontory) for the next week and a half before things finally turn on. Not much to get excited about early on.

Water temps are sitting around 56°, which is pretty much average for this time of year, so nothing weird there. Let’s get into it.

We kick off on Thursday the 10th with some proper grumpy conditions. Swell’s pushing 6ft from the southwest, period a solid 17 seconds – that’s a groundswell with plenty of energy (3132 – strong to very strong). But here’s the catch: a 12 mph cross-on westerly wind is chopping it all up. It’s just poor. And it doesn’t get much better over the next several days. Thursday afternoon the wind swings onshore and the swell backs off. Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th stay marginal at best, with small 4ft to 4ft SW groundswells but still onshore or cross winds. The waves just aren’t clean.

Sunday the 13th through to Wednesday the 17th stay in the doldrums – poor surf, mostly onshore, with the swell dropping to under 3ft at times. Tuesday the 15th has a 7ft SW swell again but the wind is a fresh 19 mph cross-on, making it a lumpy, choppy mess. Not worth paddling out unless you’re after a workout. The energy’s there (2314) but the quality is zero.

Then we hit a couple of interesting days on the 18th and 19th. Friday the 18th morning shows a 7ft, short-period WSW swell at 8 seconds. That’s a weak windswell – not going to hold shape well. The wind picks up to 16 mph cross-on, so it’s choppy and raw. Afternoon sees 8ft from the SW but again, poor quality. That kind of size is only for experienced surfers anyway, and with those winds, honestly, it looks a better setup for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Finally, after a long stretch of nothing, the last few days of the outlook start showing some promise. By Tuesday the 22nd, the winds finally drop out. We get a tiny 2ft SW groundswell with a 19-second period – that’s a very long period groundswell, so it’ll have a heap of energy for its size and a slow, clean pulse. But more importantly, the wind goes glassy. It’s calm. Wednesday the 23rd keeps it clean with cross-offshore and offshore breezes, 3ft SW swell – not big but tidy.

The standout is definitely Thursday the 24th. That morning brings 7ft of SW swell – but here the period drops to 9 seconds, so it’s more of a windswell, not the classic groundswell. Still, the combined swell energy is strong (1028), and with a light ENE wind at 6 mph giving clean cross-off conditions, this could actually fire for Norman Bay. It’s big enough for a proper day out but could be a little too much for beginners. The afternoon holds at 7ft and stays clean. If you can get out that Thursday, that’s the session to circle.

Crowds at Norman Bay are sometimes a thing, so expect some company on the better days. But for the first week and a half, honestly, you’re better off watching the water.

Rusty.

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