Redhead Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Let's be straight with you – the next couple of weeks at Redhead are looking pretty grim for paddle surfing. We've got a long, flat spell to kick things off, with barely a ripple for the first few days. The water temp is sitting at 64°, which is pretty much where it should be for this time of year, nothing special there.

From Thursday the 30th of July right through to Sunday the 2nd of August, you're looking at tiny swell, mostly around 0.3ft with weak energy (combined energy of all swells directed here at just 6 or less). Winds are all over the place – onshore, cross, cross-on – so not even a clean surface to play on. It's a write-off.

Then Monday the 3rd of August finally shows some signs of life. The morning brings a clean 4ft SE swell with an 11-second period and a light offshore from the NNW. That's the best we're going to see for a while, with moderate wave energy (302). This is a reef break that's fairly consistent and fairly exposed, so it'll pick up that swell. It's a beginner-friendly wave at that size, but it's a bit small for a real standout. The afternoon cleans up even more with a glassy offshore, but the swell drops to 3ft.

After that, it's back to mostly small, weak, and messy. Tuesday the 4th of August drops off to 1ft with onshore winds, and it's the same story through the rest of that week – tiny swells, poor conditions, and energy readings barely cracking 30.

Now, hold onto your board, because the real standout window is Monday the 10th of August. The morning looks solid: a clean 5ft SE swell with an 11-second period, a moderate offshore from the NNW, and strong wave energy pumping in at 478. That's the best quality swell of the whole outlook. It's a bit much for beginners at that size, but for the rest of us, that's a proper session. The afternoon holds similar size (518 energy) but the wind shifts cross-offshore, so it won't be as clean.

The days following that are a mess of strong winds – 18-22 mph cross-offshore breezes – making the surf choppy and unappealing, even though the swell hangs around 3ft. The setup at Redhead (a reef) is more suited to paddle surfing than kite surfing, but with those winds, kites might have a better time of it.

The period on Sunday the 9th of August is a tease: a glassy morning with 2ft ESE swell and a very long 13-second period (117 energy). It's surfable but ordinary, and it's just not big enough to get excited about, especially with the long period making it break a bit straight on the reef.

To sum it up: don't get your hopes up for the next week. The only real chance for a decent wave is the morning of Monday the 10th of August. That's your best bet, but it's still a week and a half away, so keep an eye on the forecasts. The beach looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on those windy afternoons in the second week. If nothing changes, it's going to be a quiet fortnight at Redhead.

Rusty.

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