La Torche Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. We’ve got a long 16-day window coming up for La Torche, and truth be told, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. There’s a fair bit of swell on the cards, but a lot of it gets hammered by nasty cross-onshore winds, so we’re gonna have to pick our moments. The first few days are a write-off for clean surf, but there are a couple of absolute gems hiding in there for those who can wait.

Right off the bat, Monday morning (14th September) is a tease. The swell is a modest 3ft from the west with a 9-second period – nothing too exciting – but the wind is glassy out of the southeast at just 3 mph. The water’s sitting at 65°, which is pretty average for this time of year, and the combined energy is moderate at 237. It’s surfable but real small.

Then things go pear-shaped. From Monday afternoon through to Tuesday, the wind swings onshore and picks up hard – we’re talking 15 to 19 mph from the northwest. The swell bumps up to 6ft on Tuesday afternoon with 555 combined energy, but it’s lumpy, choppy rubbish. Wednesday and Thursday don’t get much better; Wednesday morning sees 8ft at 10 seconds from the WNW with 1019 energy, but it’s cross-shore and messy. The wind stays in the 15–19 mph range with onshore or cross-onshore components, and the surf quality is poor. Friday the 18th gets bigger – 8ft from the WNW with a 14-second period and over 2600 energy – but the wind is still onshore and strong. This is expert-sized, wonky stuff. Not worth paddling out.

The weekend (20th and 21st September) starts to look up. Sunday the 20th has a morning session with 6ft from the WNW and a light onshore breeze from the west at 6 mph – it’s marginal, but the combined energy is 603. The afternoon gets interesting with a very long 16-second period and 4ft, but it’s cross-onshore and choppy. Then Monday the 21st morning – that’s the first real standout. The swell is 6ft from the WNW with a nice 13-second period, generating 1190 combined energy (moderate to strong), and the wind is offshore from the east at just 6 mph. It’s clean, it’s glassy, and the comment says excellent for experienced surfers. That’s a solid session for intermediates too – the long period will make for better shaped waves, though being a beach-and-point setup, the point should handle it nicely.

The next standout is further out, on Sunday the 27th September. Both the morning and afternoon are firing. We’ve got a solid 10ft swell from the west with an 11-second period, combined energy well over 2200 in the afternoon (very strong), and the wind is light offshore or cross-offshore from the southeast at 6–9 mph. Clean, powerful, and excellent for experienced surfers. This one’s a bit over 5ft so it’s steering clear of beginners – at 10ft, it’s expert territory, but it’ll be pumping on the point.

Monday the 28th morning is another big one: 12ft from the WSW with a 9-second period, 1767 energy, and offshore wind from the east at 9 mph. That’s a lot of water moving, but the short period means it could be a bit lumpy and less organised. Still, for experts only, it’s worth a look.

Overall, the best bet for most surfers is Monday the 21st morning – clean, manageable size, and good period. For the big-wave crew, Sunday the 27th is the one to circle on the calendar. The rest is a lot of waiting, but these two mornings are true standouts.

Rusty.

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