Panoramas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty comin' at ya with the outlook for our local stretch.

Alright, listen up. It's gonna be a bit of a waiting game. We've got a solid 16-day window here, but honestly, the first ten days or so are lookin' pretty flat and frustrating. There's a lot of small, mushy, and choppy conditions on the menu, with a few pockets of glassy, ordinary waves. It's not a complete write-off, but don't get your hopes up for anything epic. The real standout, the only one I'm truly excited about, is way down the line.

Let's start with the here and now. For Thursday the 30th and Friday the 1st of August, we're looking at tiny, weak swell. Thursday morning at Panoramas (beach and reef) is a total downer – 3ft of NW swell with a short 8-second period, and a cross wind making a mess of it. The combined energy is a weak 69. Friday morning is a little better, with glassy conditions and the same 2ft swell, but it's still just "surfable but very ordinary." The water temp is about average for this time of year, so nothing weird there.

The pattern holds through the weekend and into the start of next week. The swell stays small, rarely cracking 3ft, with a mix of onshore and cross-shore winds. There are a few glimmers – Monday morning the 3rd looks glassy again with a 3ft NW swell, and the energy bumps up to a moderate 105. Tuesday morning the 4th is also glassy with 3ft swell. But the afternoons get chopped up by stronger winds. It's a grind, you know?

Then, on Wednesday afternoon the 5th of August, the swell starts to show a bit of life. We get a 6ft swell from the NNW, but the period is still a short 7 seconds, and it comes with a light cross-on wind. The energy jumps to a strong 261, but the conditions are still poor. This is a case of the ocean having energy but no shape. For a spot like Panoramas, which is fairly exposed to the NW, this setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer. It's just too messy.

The Best On Offer

Now, here's where it gets interesting. The absolute best window in the entire forecast is the morning of Wednesday the 12th of August. That's a full two weeks out, so keep an eye on it, but it's the one to circle on the calendar. We're looking at glassy conditions at Panoramas with a clean 3ft swell from the NW. The period is a solid 8 seconds, and the combined energy is a moderate 96. The wind is a light offshore from the SSW, and the forecast is for clear skies. The swell is small, but it's clean, which is a win. This is the only morning in the whole window where everything aligns for a genuinely fun, uncrowded session. Crowds are *sometimes* an issue here, so expect a few other heads out, but with a glassy 3ft wave, it'll be worth it.

After that, the outlook fades again. The last few days of the run see more small, messy cross-shore junk. The Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th are back to the same old story.

So, to sum it up for the next two weeks: there's a lot of flat, choppy water to sit through. The one true standout is a very promising, glassy morning on Wednesday the 12th of August. If you can wait for that, you'll be rewarded. Otherwise, it's a bit of a drought.

Rusty.

Read more