Roaches Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s have a look at Roaches Reef. This is a reef setup that likes a good SW swell and it’s exposed to it, so it’s got potential when the conditions line up. Right now though, we’re staring down a pretty bleak stretch. The water temperature is sitting at 68°F which is a solid 7°F above the norm for this time of year – that’s properly unusual, almost like summer has shown up early.

The whole 16-day outlook is a tough one. There’s no real stand-out session at all. The surf is small and messy for the vast majority of the period. The combined energy readings are mostly weak, sitting in the teens or low hundreds, with only a few brief moments of moderate energy around 140 to 319 (that’s on the 4th and 5th of August). But even those come with strong cross-onshore winds that ruin the surface. The swell height ticks up to 5ft on the 5th and again on the 8th, but the period is short – around 6 to 8 seconds – so it’s going to be bumpy, weak, and pretty unappealing for a paddle.

The wind is a constant problem. Most days are cross-on or cross, with speeds up to 22 mph on the 5th, making it lumpy and choppy. There are a few windows of cleaner conditions, like the morning of the 6th with a cross-off breeze and a clean look, and the 9th also shows clean conditions with cross-off winds. But the swell is tiny – 3ft and 2ft respectively – and the combined energy is low.

The best you’re going to get is the afternoon of the 15th of August. That’s the only session that even gets a nod as “surfable but very ordinary”. The swell is 4ft from the west, with a 7-second period, and the combined energy is 152 – moderate. The wind is a light cross-off from the WNW at 3 mph, giving clean conditions. It’s not going to blow your mind, but it’s the least bad option in a very quiet spell. Still, with a short period like that, it’ll be a bit weak and lacking punch.

The rest of the time? Flat or small, poor wind, and just not worth wetting a wetsuit. There’s a long gap of basically nothing worth recommending until that 15th, and after that it fades back into tiny, weak surf.

So, I’ll be honest – this is a wipeout of a forecast. If you’re desperate, pencil in the 15th of August afternoon, but don’t expect much. Sometimes the forecast shifts, and a spot like this can fire, but right now it’s looking like a solid two weeks of sitting on the beach.

Rusty.

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