Nuns Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get real about what we’ve got coming up at Nuns Beach. It’s a sandbar setup that’s exposed, so it catches whatever’s around, but the problem is, for most of this 16-day run, there just isn’t much to get excited about. The combined energy of all swells here is weak, mostly in the low two-digit range (33) at the start, which means small, weak waves. The water’s a touch warmer than normal at 77°F, about 3°F above average for this time of year, so you’ll be comfortable while you’re out there waiting for something to ride.

Monday the 17th, we’re looking at tiny 2ft swell from the SSE with a short 6-second period. Wind is cross-off from the WNW at 9 mph, so it’s clean, but honestly, it’s pretty poor. Afternoon drops to 1ft. Not worth paddling out for.

Tuesday the 18th, still tiny. 2ft from the SE, period up to 7 seconds. Cross-off wind in the morning, light breeze. Clean surf, but there’s nothing to surf. Same again Wednesday the 19th – 1ft, 10-second period, but wind goes cross then cross-on, so it’s messy. Wednesday afternoon gets choppy.

Thursday the 20th hits a real low: 0.7ft swell, glassy morning but only 8-second period and combined energy of just 11. That is truly flat. Friday and Saturday are similar – 0.7ft to 1.0ft. It’s a tough stretch.

Sunday the 23rd, nothing changes. 1ft to 2ft. Monday the 24th though, things perk up slightly. Afternoon brings a 2ft swell from the SE with a long 12-second period and combined energy jumps to 120 – that’s a moderate pulse. Wind is offshore from the WNW at 12 mph, so it’s clean. Waves are surfable but the comment says very ordinary conditions, only scoring a 1 out of 10, so it’s not a standout by any means.

Tuesday the 25th sees a bump in height: 3ft in the morning from the S, but period drops to 5 seconds – that’s a short, weak windswell. Afternoon goes to 5ft (6-second period, combined energy 184) but it’s onshore and messy. No good.

Wednesday the 26th and Thursday the 27th are cross-on and choppy. Combined energy stays in the moderate range (87 to 126) but the wind ruins it.

Then we get to Friday the 28th of August – this is the only real event in the whole outlook. Morning sees a 3ft swell from the SE with a 13-second period, combined energy at a strong 315. That’s proper groundswell energy. However, the wind is cross from the NE at a fresh 19 mph, creating lumpy cross-chop. Afternoon is better: wind swings to NNE at 16 mph, becoming cross-off, with the same 3ft SE swell, period 12 seconds, still strong energy at 220. The surf will be clean in the arvo, and that long period will give them some shape. Nuns Beach is a sandbar though – with a swell direction from SE and the optimum for this break being SE, it’s aimed right at it. The long period (12-13 sec) is prone to breaking a bit straight on sandbars, but with that moderate energy and clean afternoon wind, this is the best you’ll get. It’s still only poor surf conditions in the data, but it’s the least poor of the lot. This is the pick.

Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th see a drop back – 2ft then 5ft on Sunday morning, but wind is cross-on or onshore, so choppy. Monday the 31st and into September 1st, we’re back to tiny, weak surf.

Bottom line: This is a long, lean stretch. From now until Friday the 28th, there’s a gap of about 11 days with basically no worthwhile waves. Friday the 28th afternoon is the one window where clean cross-off wind meets a moderate groundswell with some energy. For everyone else, it’s flat or too messy. Setups like this can turn around quickly, but right now, there’s nothing else on the table.

Rusty

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