Penhale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Morning, crew. Rusty here, looking at the open stretch ahead for our stretch of coast. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, so let’s break it down day by day.

The first few days are a write-off, to be honest. We’ve got a solid amount of swell, but it’s all pretty junky. Wednesday the 16th through Saturday the 19th are all locked into cross-onshore winds and lumpy, choppy surf. Wave heights are in the 6ft to 7ft range, but with that wind and the short 8-second period, it’s just messy. Not worth paddling out for.

Then we get a bit of a reset. Early Sunday morning the 20th, the wind goes glassy out of the NE. The swell drops to 5ft with a 10-second period. It’s not huge, but it’s clean. The energy is moderate, coming in at 440. This will be the first real chance to get wet, though the afternoon gets a bit onshore and junky again.

Monday the 21st is small, with 3ft waves and glassy conditions in the morning. It’s surfable but pretty ordinary. The energy is weak at 189. You’ll be fighting for scraps.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Tuesday afternoon the 22nd, a pulse of long-period groundswell shows up. It’s reading 3ft at 17 seconds from the WNW, with clean offshore ENE winds. The combined energy jumps to 669. That’s a very clean, glassy window with some proper push behind it.

Now, the long period is a bit of a double-edged sword. It’s got great energy, but it might be breaking a bit straight at a beach break. Keep that in mind.

Wednesday the 23rd is an early call. The swell is up to 5ft at 14 seconds from WNW, with clean cross-offshore ESE winds at 30 km/h. The energy is solid at 874. The morning looks good, but the afternoon drops off a bit with the swell easing to 4ft. Still clean though.

Then we hit another flat spell Thursday the 24th and Friday the 25th. The swell drops right out, back down to 2ft and 2ft. Weak energy, nothing doing.

Saturday the 26th is dead flat, with waves down to 0.7ft. An absolute blank day.

The next real window opens up a week from Sunday, on the 27th of September. Morning has 3ft at 11 seconds from the WNW, with light cross-offshore winds. Clean and building. The afternoon jumps to 5ft at 12 seconds, but the wind swings cross-shore, making it a bit more marginal.

The standout of the whole run looks like the 28th of September, Monday morning. We’re looking at 6ft at 13 seconds from the WNW, with a fresh cross-offshore north wind at 30 km/h. The combined energy is the biggest we see all run, at 1162. It’s going to be punchy, powerful, and clean. That’s the one to circle.

Tuesday the 29th has clean offshore winds with 4ft at 11 seconds, and then Wednesday the 30th morning is the other gem. The swell jumps back up to 8ft at 10 seconds from the W, with moderate offshore E winds. Clean and solid, with 963 energy. That’s proper, overhead-plus surf with good shape.

Thursday the 1st of October brings a smaller, cleaner day, with 4ft at 9 seconds and light cross-offshore winds.

So, if you’re picking your battles, the two real standouts are the morning of the 28th and the morning of the 30th. The 28th has the most size and power, and the 30th looks super clean with solid waves. The one on the 28th might be a bit much for beginners, that’s over 5ft. But for the rest of us, that’s the one.

Water temp is about average for this time of year, so nothing crazy there.

Stay stoked.

Rusty.

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