Rockpile Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the table for the next couple of weeks.

Alright, straight up, the outlook from now through the 16-day window is a bit of a grind. We get some small pulses of swell, but the quality is a constant battle with the wind and shifting conditions. There's no massive, clean swell event that’s going to have everyone charging. The best of it is likely going to be early on, but we have to wade through a lot of "iffy" surf to get there.

The main spot on the radar is Rockpile. It's a consistent reef break that works on a SW swell, which is our main direction for the period. It’s a beginner-friendly spot, but don’t let that fool you – when it’s on, it can be fun. The water is a balmy 73°F, which is much warmer than usual for this time of year, a real treat if you’re paddling out.

We kick things off on Tuesday, the 21st of July. Morning sees a light cross-on breeze from the WSW at 6 mph, with a 4 ft SW groundswell rolling in at a very long 16 seconds. That’s a good-looking swell period, but the cross-on wind is a bit of a spoiler, leaving the surface with small wind ripples. It's marginal, but it’s the most promising we've got early on.

Wednesday the 22nd and Thursday the 23rd look worse. The wind picks up on Wednesday (12 mph from the WNW), and the swell drops to 3 ft. The surface gets a cross-chop, and it’s a write-off. Thursday is very similar, just a bit smaller. Friday the 24th through Sunday the 27th actually sees a shift to light, clean offshore winds (SW at 6 mph), but the swell stays small, sitting around 2 ft to 3 ft. The combined energy is moderate, hitting peaks around 929 (moderate) on the Sunday morning, but the wave comment for the whole period is “marginal surf forecast or questionable tide conditions.” There’s just not enough juice to get excited about, even with clean conditions.

Now, here’s the standout, and it’s a strange one because the conditions are still marginal. Starting Friday the 31st of July into the first weekend of August, we get a bump in size. Friday morning has a 5 ft SSW swell with light offshore winds (WSW at 6 mph). That’s the best combination of size and clean wind we see for the whole run. The combined energy is strong at 910 (strong wave energy). It’s still a bit marginal overall, but the Friday morning is the one session you should be aiming for. The afternoons get a bit choppy again, and the period drops, but that morning window is the pick.

After that, it fades fast. Saturday the 1st of August drops to 3 ft with poor 10-second period windswell, and Sunday the 2nd is back to ankle-biters. From then on, we get a solid gap of around 4 to 5 days, from Sunday the 2nd through to Wednesday the 5th of August, where the surf is consistently small, windy, or both. Nothing worth paddling for.

So, to sum it up: don't hold your breath. The only true standout is Friday the 31st of July, early morning at Rockpile with a clean 5 ft SSW swell. Everything else is a marginal, wait-and-see game. The good weather might make it a nice day at the beach, but for surfing, it's a lean stretch.

Rusty.

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