Norries Head Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, it's Rusty here. Let's be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are looking pretty bleak for a decent paddle, especially if you've got your heart set on Norries Head. We're staring down a long stretch of poor conditions, with only a few glimmers of something half-rideable.

The pattern for the foreseeable future is a mix of onshore and cross-onshore winds, with the swell never really locking in from the right direction. The energy is mostly moderate – we're looking at combined readings in the 300s and 400s (like 364 and 447) early on, which is surfable but nothing special. The real killer is that the swell direction is mostly from the ESE to SE, which is not what this spot wants. It wants NE swell.

The first week is a write-off. Through the 17th and 18th of August, the surf is small, around 6 ft, but it's coming in on a short, weak period of 7-8 seconds with onshore winds. It's going to be messy, wind-blown, and poor. You're better off saving your energy. The energy does build a bit on the 19th (up to 702), but the wind is still cross-onshore, and the period stretches out to 11 seconds, which might actually make it break a bit too straight for a beach setup like this. It's marginal, not worth a dawn patrol.

There’s a tiny window on the morning of Friday, the 21st of August. The wind swings to a light northerly, cross-offshore, and it cleans up. The swell is down to a weak 4 ft, with a short 7-second period and a low energy reading of 124. It's surfable, but only just. You'll be scratching for a waist-high slopey one. The weekend, the 22nd and 23rd, is similar – small, around 3 ft, with cleaner, glassy conditions on the Sunday morning. The energy is weak, below 110, but at least it's not all chop. If you're desperate for a surf, that Sunday morning is about as good as it gets in the first week.

The gap after that is significant. From the 24th of August through to the 29th, it's mostly cross-onshore or onshore winds and tiny, weak swells. We're talking 2 ft to 3 ft surf with energy readings mostly in the 80s and 90s. It's not worth getting wet.

Then, at the very end of the window, the tail end of the forecast tosses us a curveball. On the 29th of August, the swell jumps back up to 6 ft, with energy climbing back into the 300s and 400s (361 and 459). The big problem is it's coming from the north, which is the absolute wrong direction for Norries Head, and the wind is still onshore from the SE. It's going to be a messy, unorganised push of water. This is a promise of something bigger, more than a week away, but the conditions aren't lining up.

And then it fades back out again. The last few days of August and into the start of September show the swell dropping back to 4 ft, with moderate onshore winds and energy in the 200s. It stays poor.

So, nothing here really stands out as a classic. The best of a bad bunch is definitely the Sunday morning, the 23rd of August. It's only 3 ft, but it's glassy and clean. The water temp at the start is about 68°F, which is normal for this time of year. That's all we can really hope for right now. A short, weak clean-up on the 21st is a look, but the Sunday has the cleaner conditions. For a point break like this, if the swell does pick up with a longer period, you'd want to be here when it's coming from the NE, not the SE or N. As it stands, this setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer.

Rusty, signing off.

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