Rat Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty.

Honestly, the 16-day window is looking flat and pretty grim for Rat Beach. There’s no real swell on the horizon—just a bunch of weak, short-period leftovers that won’t give you anything to get excited about. The water’s already running much warmer than usual for this time of year, sitting at 71° on Saturday afternoon, which is a bit of a head-scratcher but not something that’ll save the surf.

Saturday the 15th kicks off with a sloppy 2ft of west windswell at 3 seconds, blown out by a cross-on breeze at 12 mph. The energy is weak (7), and it’s just choppy junk. Sunday morning settles a touch with a 2ft west swell at 5 seconds, but the light cross-on wind keeps it messy, and the energy is still tiny (15). Sunday afternoon the wind kicks up again, so no luck there.

Monday the 17th sees the swell nudge up to 3ft from the west at 6 seconds, and the energy jumps to moderate (123), but it’s cross-shore and messy. You’re getting a bit of push, but the quality isn’t there. Tuesday morning offers the first real glimpse of something cleaner—3ft west swell at 8 seconds, with a light cross-off breeze making it tidy. The energy is still low (78), and it’s surfable but honestly just ordinary.

From there it’s a whole lot of nothing. The middle of the week drops back down to tiny 1ft to 2ft waves, with periods stuck in the 6 to 19 second range—that long-period groundswell on the 20th and 21st is technically there, but there’s no size behind it, so it’s just making the ocean slosh around. The energy stays weak to low-moderate (under 100 mostly), and the cross-on winds ruin most afternoons.

There’s a slight bump around the 23rd and 24th, with the energy getting to moderate (174 on the 23rd morning, 176 on the 24th morning), but the swell height is still only 1ft. Even with a clean offshore on the 24th morning, you’re looking at knee-high dribble. The 25th has a similar story—2ft at 16 seconds, clean on the morning but tiny.

The last few days into the 30th just fade away, with weak west windswell and mostly cross-on winds. The 28th morning goes glassy with 2ft at 6 seconds, but there’s no energy behind it (27), and it’s not going to be worth the paddle.

So, bottom line: there are no good surf options in this whole 16-day stretch. Rat Beach is inconsistent at the best of times, and this run is a true blank. It’s the kind of spell that’s more normal for the area when the swell windows shut down. But keep the chin up—surf forecasts can change, and it tends not to stay this poor for long.

Rusty.

Read more