Roads End Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what Roads End has on offer.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – the start of this period is a tough watch. The water is sitting at a chilly 53°, which is a whopping 6° colder than normal for this time of year. That’s a serious cold snap, so you’ll be wanting a good thick wetsuit if you’re even thinking about it.

The whole first week is pretty much a write-off for any kind of decent surf. We're looking at a run of poor conditions from Sunday the 9th right through to Thursday the 14th. The swell is there, sometimes hitting 4ft to 5ft from the NW, but the wind is a constant problem – mostly cross-shore or cross-onshore, keeping everything chopped up and messy. The wave energy is moderate, with numbers like 218 to 365, but it doesn’t matter when the wind is ruining it. There’s just nothing worth paddling out for.

We finally get a little flicker of hope on Friday the 14th afternoon. The swell drops to 4ft from the NW with a 7-second period, and the wind eases to a light breeze. It’s still cross-shore, but it’s described as "gentle cross-shore with slight cross-chop" and gets a marginal score. It's not great, but it's the first hint of something that might be surfable. Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th are back to poor conditions, though.

The real change comes on Tuesday the 18th of August. This is the standout of the entire outlook. We’ve got a clean 3ft swell from the SW with a 12-second period, and for the first time, we get a light cross-offshore breeze from the SSE. The file calls it "clean" – and that’s what we want to hear. The wave energy is solid at 374, suggesting there’s some punch in those lines. Roads End is a beach and reef setup, and with a longer-period SW groundswell and clean wind, this is the time to go. The break is fairly consistent, but it can get crowded sometimes, so get in early.

After that, Wednesday the 19th brings a bigger pulse. We’re looking at 5ft from the W at 10 seconds in the morning. That’s a bit of size, and the wind is light cross-onshore, so it might be a bit bumpy. The energy jumps to a strong 724, so there’s plenty of power, but it’s a marginal call. It might be one for the more experienced crew.

The rest of the second week into the 24th sees a lot of the same story – moderate NW and W swells with moderate cross-shore winds, keeping the quality down. Nothing else really jumps out as a must-surf session.

So, to sum it up: the first week is a bust, but keep your eyes on Tuesday the 18th of August for the cleanest, best-shaped waves of the whole run.

Rusty.

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