North Bar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at the cards for the next couple of weeks.

Well, to be straight with you, it’s a pretty grim run for North Bar. We’re looking at a long stretch of nothing much to get excited about. The first real chance of anything surfable doesn’t pop up until the very end of the month, and even then it’s a bit of a tease.

The first few days are a write-off. Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th are seeing small, crumbly swell from the ESE, around 3ft or so, but with a short period of 7 seconds. The wind is onshore or cross-onshore, making it choppy and messy. The combined energy is weak, barely hitting 125 (moderate wave energy) on the best of those days. It’s just poor.

Monday the 27th drops off even more, with swell slipping to 3ft. The wind swings around, and by the afternoon we get a clean, cross-offshore breeze, which is nice, but the swell is just too weak and short-period to do anything with. The energy is down in the 60s (weak wave energy). This pattern of clean but tiny waves continues right through Tuesday the 28th.

Then Wednesday the 29th and Thursday the 30th see a jump in size, but it comes with a howling onshore wind. By Wednesday afternoon, we’ve got 7ft of lumpy, wind-chopped swell from the E, with a period of only 5 seconds. The energy spikes to 460 (strong wave energy), but the quality is truly awful. Thursday morning is 7ft from the NE with a 6-second period and howling cross-shore wind. This is messy, powerful stuff – more for a kite than a paddle. The afternoon on Thursday the 30th cleans up a bit, with a 4ft SSE swell and a 9-second period, and the wind goes cross-offshore. The energy is still decent at 358 (strong wave energy), and the notes say "marginal," but it’s the only hint of something in that whole week.

Friday the 31st and Saturday the 1st of August are back to tiny, clean, but small wave energy.

The one standout, and it’s a long way off, is Monday the 3rd of August. We finally get a morning with some promise. The swell is 4ft from the S with a 9-second period, giving a solid 269 (strong wave energy) behind it. The wind is light from the W, cross-offshore, and the conditions are clean. The forecast actually says "expect good surf conditions." This is the best on offer for the whole 16-day outlook. It’s not a monster, but for this spot, in this window, it’s the pick of the litter. The afternoon is clean too, with a light offshore breeze, but the energy drops a bit.

After that, the run fades out again into the tiny stuff through to the 9th of August. The water temperature is about average for the time of year here.

So, there you have it. A lot of waiting for one decent Monday morning. If you’ve got the patience, keep an eye on the 3rd.

Rusty.

Read more