Riet River Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it for the Riet River stretch.

The next 16 days are a bit of a mixed bag, with a lot of onshore wind and chop spoiling the party, but there are a couple of windows where the stars line up. The main show is a long-period groundswell, but it’s going to be a battle with the wind.

First up, a heads-up on the water temp. When we do get a wave, the water is sitting at 61°F, which is a full 6°F colder than normal for this time of year. That’s a very unusual chill, so you’ll want a thicker wetsuit.

The first real chance to get wet is late on Monday the 14th. The afternoon brings a light north-west breeze, going cross-offshore, and a 3ft SSW swell with a 13-second period. The combined energy is moderate (253). It’s nothing huge, but it’ll be clean. Tuesday the 15th morning is the real standout. The sun is out, the wind is WSW at 15 km/h and blowing offshore, grooming a 3ft SSW swell (12-second period, 215 energy). This is your best early bet. The break is a point, so it’ll handle that longer period nicely. Just know it’s inconsistent, so don’t expect a wave every minute.

The bigger swell starts to build from Wednesday the 16th. The morning shows a 4ft SSW swell at 16 seconds, with a south-southeast breeze. The combined energy jumps to a strong 1896, but the wind is cross-off. It’s clean but the period is very long, so this point break will be your friend. The swell continues to pick up into Thursday the 17th. Morning has a 8ft SSW swell (13 seconds) but the wind is light and cross. The combined energy is a beastly 2067. That’s expert territory, and it’s a bit messy with the cross-shore ripples. The afternoon cleans up nicely with a 7ft SSW swell and a gentle cross-offshore breeze from the SW. That’s the other standout for the experienced crew. For the rest of the first week, the wind is a problem. The waves are there, but the onshore and cross-onshore winds will make it choppy and blown out.

Into the second week, the outlook is more uncertain, but still a few things to keep an eye on. Sunday the 20th is a day for the hardcore. Both morning and afternoon have a 8ft and 8ft SW swell, but the wind is a strong 35 km/h from the west-southwest. It’s cross-offshore, so it might be clean, but that’s a lot of wind and a lot of water. The combined energy is over 2100 – that’s very strong. Only for experts. The following Monday the 21st sees the swell drop, but the wind is cross-onshore, so it’s poor. The real action fades out after that, with a week of mediocre, onshore-driven conditions.

Overall, the best windows are Tuesday the 15th morning for a small, clean, offshore wave, and Thursday the 17th afternoon for a bigger, cleaner groundswell for the experts. The rest is a windy, choppy grind.

Rusty.

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