Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, listen up. I’ve been staring at this forecast for a while, and I’ve got to tell you, it’s a rough stretch for Reef. There’s a lot of nothing on the calendar, and when there is something, the wind is usually stuffing it up.

We start off on Monday the 7th with a bit of a pulse—a 5ft swell from the WNW—but it’s blowing a fresh 30 km/h from the north, straight cross-shore. It’s lumpy, it’s messy, and it’s not worth your time. The energy is moderate at 713, but the quality is poor. Tuesday and Wednesday are even smaller and just as bad. You’re looking at a solid gap of a few days here where you shouldn’t even bother waxing up.

Come Saturday the 12th, the swell has died to nearly nothing—2ft—and the wind is still on it. Forget it. Then on Sunday the 13th, there’s a flicker of hope. The swell builds to 3-4ft out of the NW with a period of 12-13 seconds. That’s a nice, long period groundswell, and the energy is solidly moderate (373-499). But the wind is still cross-shore, so it’s not going to be the clean, glassy stuff we all want. It’s a tease.

The one day to circle on the calendar is Monday the 14th, and it’s all about the morning. The swell is a touch under 4ft from the NW with an 11-second period, and for the first time in ages, the wind swings offshore—light from the NNE at 10 km/h. That’s going to be clean. The report says to expect good surf. This is your window. The energy is moderate at 352, but with that wind and that reef, it should be properly fun. Get out there before the afternoon, because that cross-on shore wind comes back and ruins it.

After that, it’s another dry spell. Tuesday the 15th and Wednesday the 16th are tiny and windy. There’s another gap of a few days where you’re just watching the forecast hoping for a change.

Looking into the second week, there’s a promising blip on Monday the 21st. The morning shows 4ft of NW swell with an 11-second period and a decent energy reading of 447. The wind is light and cross-shore, not perfect, but a whole lot better than what we’ve had. It’s far out, so don’t book the time off work yet, but it’s something to keep an eye on. The afternoon picks up to 6ft but goes onshore, so it’ll be a washing machine.

One more thing—Friday the 18th. The swell jumps to 6ft from the NW, but the period is a short 7 seconds, so it’s going to be fat and jumbly. It’s over the 5ft mark, so it’s strictly for the experienced crew, and the light onshore wind will put some chop on it. It’s powerful, but it’s not pretty.

The water’s sitting at 68°, which is pretty normal for this time of year. Nothing weird going on there.

So here’s the deal: save your energy for Monday the 14th morning. That’s the one clean, ridable swell in this whole stretch. Everything else is either too small, too windy, or too messy. It’s been a tough run, but that one morning will be worth the patience.

Rusty.

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