Roads End Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's coming up for Roads End. It's a beach and reef setup, exposed to the west, so it needs the right direction to line up. The water temp is about average for this time of year.

Honestly, the immediate outlook is a bit of a bummer. We've got a long stretch of nothing worth paddling out for. From Sunday July 12th right through to the 16th, the surf is poor. The wind is coming from the NNW, mostly cross or cross-onshore, and the wave quality is just not there. The swell is small and weak, with combined energy around 450 down to 256, and the conditions are choppy. It's a write-off.

Things start to look a little more interesting on Thursday the 16th. The swell picks up a touch, but it's still a marginal call. We get a pulse of WNW groundswell with a long 19-second period, pushing the combined energy to 501. The wind is light from the WSW, but it's onshore, so it's not clean. Still, that long period groundswell has potential for a better shaped wave, but for a beach setup like this, it might break a bit too straight.

Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th are similar. The swell hangs in around 3ft from the WNW, with periods of 16-17 seconds. The combined energy is decent, hitting 792 on Friday morning. The wind is still not ideal, mostly cross or cross-onshore from the NW. We're still in "marginal" territory. The crowd factor is "sometimes" at Roads End, so you might see a few others out, but that's about it.

Now, hold on, because things get a bit more interesting late in the run. On Sunday the 19th, the swell direction swings to the NNW and the height jumps to 6ft. The period drops to a short 7 seconds though, which is a windswell. The combined energy is moderate at 658. The wind is still cross from the NNW. This is getting bigger, over 5ft, so it's starting to push beginners. It's still a "marginal" call.

The standout for the whole window, and the only one I'd really get excited about, is around Wednesday the 22nd and Thursday the 23rd. The swell builds to 7ft to 8ft from the NW, with a period of 9 seconds. The combined energy on Wednesday morning is a strong 1352. That's a proper pulse. The wind is cross from the NNW and N. At 8ft, this is over 8ft and is for experts only. The rest of the week after that drops back into the 4ft to 7ft range, with that short period, and the wind stays cross.

To be honest, there's not a single day in this 16-day window that looks like a true classic. The best bet for a bigger, more powerful wave is that pulse on the 22nd and 23rd, but the wind is never favorable enough to make it glassy or clean. The swell direction is NNW to NW, which isn't the optimum W for Roads End, so it's not going to be at its best. For the most part, the setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer, given the constant cross-shore wind.

Rusty.

Read more