Ricks Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a proper look at what’s on the cards.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – it’s a pretty bleak start. We’ve got about a week and a half of flat, weak, and frankly disappointing conditions before anything even starts to look interesting. For the first nine days, from Saturday the 25th of July right through to the end of the month and into the first days of August, the swell is tiny. We’re talking ankle-to-knee high at best with very weak wave energy (under 100) and short periods that just won’t push through. On top of that, the wind is mostly cross-off or cross, but it’s just not enough to make anything of the dribble. A couple of afternoons have that slight cross-chop too, which doesn't help. Honestly, it’s a time to wax the ding, not the board.

We do start to see a lift around Saturday the 1st of August, with the swell bumping up to 3ft from the ENE, but the wind is cross-onshore and it’s still pretty messy. The energy is picking up though – you can see it climb into the hundreds (227 to 449) over that weekend and into Monday the 3rd. On Monday morning we get a marginal call with 4ft from the ENE with a period touching 14 seconds – that’s some proper groundswell energy starting to roll in (594). The catch? The wind is cross-shore and there’s a cross-chop, so it’s not clean by any stretch. This pattern of building swell but getting wrecked by cross-onshore winds just keeps on going right through to Wednesday the 5th of August. It’s frustrating because the welly is there (combined energy hitting 891), but it’s just not coming together.

Now, here’s where we get a little spark. Thursday the 6th of August sees the swell direction swing around to the west. It's 7ft on the morning but with a short period (8 seconds), so it’s going to be a bit crumbly and probably too big for beginners. The wind is still cross-onshore, making it a bit of a chore. However, the real standout window is rounding the corner.

The pick of the whole 16 days? Look hard at the weekend of the 8th and 9th of August. Overnight into Saturday the 8th, the swell jumps up to 8ft from the WNW with a very long period of 14 seconds – that is serious groundswell energy (2427) and it’s going to be pumping. The wind is onshore, which is a blow, but for an exposed reef like Ricks Reef (Ricks-Reef), that size and direction will line it up. This is strictly for the experts only; that’s well over 8ft and it will be powerful. The water temp is at 85°, which is bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there. Sunday the 9th backs it up with 7ft to 8ft from the same direction, but the wind goes cross-onshore from the WSW again, which will chop it up a bit. These two days are the only ones that genuinely get the heart rate up, but they come with a warning – it’s heavy and the wind isn’t perfect. For the patient, experienced crew, it’s a goer.

Stay safe out there.

Rusty

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