Pottsville Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – the next couple of weeks at Pottsville Beach are a real mixed bag, and you’re gonna need to pick your moments. We’re looking at a long 16-day window, and honestly, there’s a lot of flat, weak, or just plain messy stuff before things finally get interesting. The start is pretty grim, with a few days of small, poor surf. There’s a bit of a gap there where it’s not worth paddling out at all. But hang in there, because there are a couple of proper standouts later on that will make it all worth it, especially for the more experienced crew.

The first real glimmer of hope shows up on Monday the 10th. It’s not big, only about 3ft of east swell, but we’ve got a gentle offshore wind from the west. That’s the first time the ocean cleans up properly. It’s small and clean, but the energy is still weak, so it’s more about getting a few fun, gutless ones than anything powerful. You might get some clean little ones in the morning before the wind changes.

Then we roll into Tuesday the 11th – the morning is dead glassy with basically no wind, and there’s still a small east swell at around 2ft. It’s pretty ordinary and weak, but at least it’s user-friendly. The afternoon turns a bit messy with a cross-onshore breeze and a bit more energy. Still not a standout.

The next few days stay pretty lackluster. We get a bit of a pulse on Wednesday the 12th with a short-period north windswell pushing 5-6ft, but the period is tiny and the wind is all over the place. That’s not going to be any fun. Thursday the 13th drops right back down to a weak 1.5-2ft, so it’s barely even rideable.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Friday the 14th rolls in and the ocean suddenly wakes up. There’s a big jump in energy. We’re looking at 5ft of swell from the southeast, with a long 14-second period. The morning is absolutely glassy with a light SSE air. This is real groundswell, real power, and clean conditions. This is a proper surf day, but with that size and period, it might be a bit much for the beginners. The afternoon sees the wind turn onshore and the period stretch out even longer, which can make it a bit walled, but the morning will be worth it.

But the real heavyweight is Saturday the 15th. The swell peaks at a solid 10ft from the south, with a 12-second period. The energy readings are massive – this is a serious amount of juice. The morning has a light cross-offshore wind and it’s clean, but 10ft is big, powerful, and only for the experienced crew. This is the standout of the entire period, the big one. The afternoon has a stronger cross-breeze and the swell mixes up a bit, but the morning is the session to be there.

Sunday the 16th stays big, with 8ft of southerly swell, but the wind is on the increase from the SSW. It’s still clean early, but that afternoon forecast of 30 km/h southerly wind will chop it up and make it a battle. Still a decent size, but not as clean as Saturday morning.

Things taper off from there. Monday the 17th holds a solid 7-8ft of swell, but the shorter period makes it a bit less organized. Showers are in the forecast and the wind gets messy in the afternoon. By the 18th and 19th, it’s dropping in size but the period is short and the winds are up and down. It’s still got some push, but it’s not going to hold a candle to Saturday.

The last few days of the window, from the 20th onwards, see the swell fade away back to the small and ordinary stuff we started with. We’re back to 3ft and under, with poor wind and weak energy. So the call is this: get out for the glassy Friday morning on the 14th, but circle the 15th of August in big letters. That Saturday morning is the one with the power, the size, and the clean conditions. It’s big, so only the experienced should even think about it, but for them, it’s going to be a classic.

Water temp at the start is around 68.7°, which is about average for this time of year, nothing weird there.

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