North Stradbroke - Pt Lookout Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you – for the first week of this outlook, it’s a bit of a struggle. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak energy and ordinary conditions that just ain’t worth paddling out for. From Sunday the 26th of July right through to Saturday the 1st of August, the swell is tiny and the combined energy barely cracks double digits – you’re looking at values like 46, 41, 39, all the way up to 62, but it’s all poor surf. The waves are just too small and weak to do anything with.

Then Sunday the 2nd of August afternoon, things start to shift. The swell bumps up to 4ft from the SE, with a 10-second period, and the combined energy jumps to 379 (moderate). Still, the condition notes say “poor surf conditions,” so it’s not quite there yet.

But hold onto your board – Monday the 3rd of August is the first real standout. Point Lookout (North Stradbroke) is the only break on offer, and it’s a point break that’s fairly exposed to the swell. On Monday morning, we’ve got a clean 3ft SE swell with a 12-second period (groundswell, long period), and the wind is a gentle offshore from the SSE at 9 mph. That’s clean, lined-up waves. The combined energy is 267 (moderate), and the water temp is sitting at 70°, which is about average for this time of year – nothing wild. The swell direction is SE, which matches the optimum direction of E nicely, so the point should be working well. It’s intermediate-level and consistent, but crowds are possible, so don’t expect to have it to yourself. This is the best on offer in the whole window – a solid morning session.

Tuesday the 4th of August is a write-off – strong onshore winds from the NNE mess it up. Wednesday the 5th of August morning is marginal, with a 3ft ESE swell, 10-second period, and a clean cross-off wind from the WSW, but the combined energy is 302 (moderate) and the condition notes say “marginal.” Worth a look if you’re desperate.

Thursday the 6th of August morning sees a bump in swell to 5ft from the SSE, but the period is short at 7 seconds, so it’s a bit lumpy. The wind is a fresh offshore from the S at 22 mph, making it clean but strong – hard to paddle into for beginners. The combined energy is 445 (strong). This one’s more for experienced surfers only.

Sunday the 9th of August afternoon, we get a 3ft SE swell with a 12-second period and a clean cross-off wind, combined energy 246 (moderate) – but the notes say “poor surf conditions,” so it’s not a standout.

The real long-range standouts are Monday the 10th of August. Morning: 5ft ESE swell, 12-second period, combined energy 690 (strong), but a cross-off wind from the ESE at 22 mph – still clean, but marginal. The afternoon: 8ft ESE swell, 12-second period, combined energy 1817 (very strong). That’s big, powerful stuff – only for experts. The wind is cross-off from the ESE at 22 mph, so it’ll be clean but heavy. This is a promising but less certain call that far out – keep an eye on it.

Overall, Monday the 3rd of August morning is the pick of the bunch. Everything else is either small, messy, or too big for the average punter. There’s a gap of nearly a week of poor conditions at the start, so don’t rush out. Stay patient.

Rusty.

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