Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto. Rusty here, lookin' at the charts for this stretch of coast.

Honestly, mate, it’s a bit of a tough run ahead. There are no proper standouts in the whole 16-day window. We’re lookin’ at a long stretch of poor surf conditions at the Reef break, from now right the way through to the end of the month. The main story is a lot of onshore and cross-shore wind, and even though we get pulses of swell energy, the quality just isn’t there for a decent paddle.

Starting from Tuesday the 11th and right through the rest of this week and into the next, the surf is small and messy. On Tuesday morning, we’re looking at a tiny 3ft NW windswell with a short 6-second period, and a weak combined energy reading of just 71. The northerly cross-breeze isn't doing it any favours either. It stays small and weak all week.

Between Wednesday the 12th and Thursday the 13th, we see a jump in the combined energy (157 to 329), but it’s coming from a cross-shore wind, and the wave comment says it all: poor. The swell height barely cracks 4ft and it's still a short-period WNW windswell. Not the kind of thing that'll get you out of bed.

The weekend of the 15th and 16th is properly flat, with swell dropping to a pathetic 0.3ft. That long-period energy (18 seconds) from the south is just a whisper, and the combined energy is basically zero (6-12). It’s all cross-onshore breeze and lumpy chop. Not worth lookin’ at.

There’s another pulse of swell energy that kicks up on Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th, with readings of 22 and 42, but it’s still tiny (0.3ft to 1ft) and on a long period from the SSW/SW. The wind is howling out of the NNW at 28 mph, straight across the break. That’s more of a kite session than a surf session, to be honest.

The second week is more of the same, just with stronger wind. There’s a bit more size showing on the 21st, with a 3ft NW swell and 10-second period, pushing the combined energy up to 200, but guess what? The wind is still cross-shore or cross-on from the NNW, chopping it all up. The best chance we get in the whole period is probably Sunday the 23rd afternoon, when a 3ft NW swell with a 10-second period and a combined energy of 223 shows up. But again, the wind is a 22 mph cross-shore from the north, so it’ll be lumpy and messy. Late on the 24th, the energy ramps up again (384) with a 4ft NW swell, but a 25 mph cross-shore wind kills any real quality.

After that, it just fades out into tiny, windy junk all the way to the 26th.

So, no good options for a paddle session in this 16-day run. The Reef is a spot that needs a clean, lined-up swell, and we just don't get the right wind with any of these pulses. It’s a blank run, plain and simple. Forecasts can always change, but as it stands, I'd leave the board in the car.

Rusty.

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