Old Woman Island - South Side Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Alright, let’s have a look at what’s coming up at Old Woman Island – South Side. It’s a solid, exposed point break that needs a decent E swell to fire, and it’s an advanced wave when it’s on. Unfortunately, the next 16 days are mostly a bust. The first week is hammered by strong onshore winds and lumpy, poor conditions. There’s a brief window of clean surf right around Saturday July 11th, but the waves are small. After that, a long dry spell kicks in, with very little energy and mostly onshore wind, so don’t hold your breath. The standouts? They’re slim.

Wednesday July 8th kicks things off with rain and a solid 7ft SE swell at 12 seconds, but the wind is howling SSE at 16 mph straight onshore. The combined energy is moderate (2023), but the surf is just a mess. It stays a write-off through Thursday July 9th and Friday July 10th, with onshore winds and building chop—Friday afternoon brings 6ft SE swell but still cross-onshore.

Now, Saturday July 11th is the one to circle. Early morning, the wind drops to glassy—SSW at just 3 mph—and the sea goes flat clean. Swell is small, 3ft from the SE with a period of 10 seconds, but combined energy is weak (257). Still, if you’re hungry, it’s the only window of truly clean waves in the whole period. Afternoon stays clean with a light NE cross-off breeze and a long-period 3ft ESE groundswell at 13 seconds (275 combined energy). It’s small, and the break is inconsistent, but you won’t have crowds fighting for scraps—just know it’s advanced-only when it does wrap in.

From Sunday July 12th onwards, things fall apart. The swell drops quickly into Wednesday July 15th, with heights down to 1.0ft and periods as low as 5 seconds. Combined energy is tiny (32-56). Onshore winds dominate again. From Thursday July 16th through the end of the week, the S/SE wind picks up to 16-19 mph, holding 4-5ft swell but all onshore and lumpy—this is kite-surfing territory, not paddle. The combined energy climbs back into the moderate range (150-252) but the quality is poor.

The second week limps along. Monday July 20th and Tuesday July 21st see some improvement, with the wind backing off to 6-9 mph onshore, and 5ft E swell at 7 seconds (combined energy up to 448). Tuesday afternoon even shows a cross-shore breeze, so it’s marginal but surfable—still on the small side. The best of the second week is Wednesday July 22nd: a light offshore N wind at 6 mph, 4ft E swell, and clean conditions (147 combined energy). It’s not a standout, but it’s the only window of clean, surfable waves in that whole stretch. After that, Thursday July 23rd fades out with strong SW cross-on winds.

Honestly, the only true standout is the early glassy session on Saturday July 11th. It’s not big, but it’s clean and you’ll have it to yourself. Everything else is either blown out or flat. Keep an eye on the long-range cleaner windows in the second week, but they’re ordinary at best.

Rusty

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