Norries Head Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’m gonna be straight with you – the next 16 days at Norries Head are a proper struggle. There’s not a single session I’d honestly recommend paddling out for. The first decent bit of energy doesn’t show until the afternoon of Saturday the 8th of August, and even then it’s a mess. That’s a brutal gap of over two weeks of flat to junk.

The only spot on the radar is Norries Head, a point break that’s inconsistent and can get crowded. It’s best with a NE swell, but we’re getting nothing like that. Let’s walk through the pain.

The first half of the period is a write-off. Friday the 24th of July, we’ve got a tiny 3 ft swell from the ENE with a weak 8-second period and a combined energy of just 134 (moderate), but a cross-shore wind at 9 mph chops it up. The water’s sitting at 69°, which is about average for the time of year. Saturday the 25th sees a 3 ft swell from the SE with a promising 16-second period, giving a solid 412 energy (moderate), but it’s a cross-on breeze and the forecast still calls it marginal. The long period means it might be too straight for the beach but could wrap around the point – if the wind wasn’t in the way. The rest of the week is a joke: 1 ft to 2 ft junk with short periods and cross-onshore winds.

We get a tiny pulse on Wednesday the 30th of July with a 4 ft swell from the SSE, but it’s a 5-second period (garbage) and 97 energy (weak), with a cross-on wind. Not worth a look. Thursday the 31st shows a 5 ft ESE swell with 163 energy (moderate) and a 7-second period, but the wind is a moderate cross-shore at 12 mph – still poor surf conditions.

The first week of August is more of the same. A 5 ft swell on Sunday the 2nd with 192 energy (moderate) and a 7-second period, but it’s cross-on. Even when the swell bumps up to 5 ft on Saturday the 8th of August with 281 energy (moderate) and a 7-second period, the wind is light cross-shore and it’s still called marginal. The period is short, so the waves will be weak and crumbly.

The only glimmer comes on Friday the 7th of August morning. We get a 3 ft swell from the E with an 8-second period and 109 energy (moderate), and the wind goes glassy – dead calm. That’s clean, but it’s small and ordinary. The swell direction is ENE, not the optimum NE, but with glassy conditions it’s the best you’ll get. The crowd might be there, given it’s often packed, but for a 3 ft wave, maybe not.

Bottom line: this is a bleak run. If you’re desperate, the only half-decent window is that glassy Friday morning, but don’t expect much. Sometimes it’s like this – the ocean just shuts down. Keep an eye on the charts; things can change.

Rusty.

Read more