North Stradbroke - Pt Lookout Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Look mate, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – the next couple of weeks at Point Lookout are shaping up to be a real struggle. The dominant wind pattern is just making a mess of things, with hardly a window of clean, rideable surf. We're looking at a 16-day window where the first real chance of something surfable doesn't pop up until Thursday the 18th, and even then, it's just barely there.

The run starts Tuesday the 15th with tiny, weak energy (32) and onshore wind. Wednesday the 16th gets a bit of swell, but it's blown out by a stinking 31 mph offshore wind that's just too strong to paddle into. By Thursday morning the 17th, there's a bit more size at 6ft from the SE with the swell energy climbing to a moderate 470, but again, offshore wind is howling at 25 mph – clean to look at but you'd be fighting it all session.

Finally, on Friday the 18th of September, we get a small window. Thursday morning shows 4ft SE swell with moderate energy (151) and a moderate offshore wind from the SSE at 12 mph. The waves will be clean, but it's not going to set the world on fire. That's about the best we've got in this whole stretch, and it's a 1 out of 10 on the scorecard. After that, it's back to junk – onshore, cross-shore, and weak energy for days.

Things look a bit more interesting the following week, but the quality is still poor. Tuesday the 22nd brings a solid push of 6ft SE swell with energy in the strong range (217), and it's clean with a cross-offshore wind. That pattern continues through Wednesday the 23rd with 6ft from the ESE and even more energy (340). But the catch is the wind is fresh, and the "clean" description masks the fact that these are likely lumpy, hard-to-read waves. The swell period is short (6-7 seconds), so you're getting a lot of whitewater, not that classic Point Lookout peel.

For the absolute standout, you've got to circle Thursday the 18th. It's the only day we have a hint of a surfable wave with clean conditions. North Stradbroke - Pt Lookout is a point break that's fairly exposed, so it needs that E swell direction to work. It's a consistent spot, but you'll likely have some company. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, nothing unusual.

Honestly, for most of this forecast, the setup looks way more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The wind is either too strong, onshore, or making the ocean a mess. Hang in there, though – it tends not to stay poor for long, and forecasts can change. Until then, the board stays in the bag.

Rusty.

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