Rockpiles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. The next couple of weeks at Rockpiles are a bit of a mixed bag. The water is sitting at 80°, which is pretty much normal for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Right now, we’re looking at small, clean surf through Wednesday morning, with a 2ft SSW groundswell rolling in at a long 16 seconds. The wind is cross-off from the ENE, so it’s tidy enough. The wave energy is pretty weak though, sitting at 288 – not a lot of push. Wednesday afternoon drops off even more, so don’t expect much.

Thursday 20th August is worth a paddle. The morning brings a clean 2ft swell from the SSW with a very long 18-second period, and the wind is light and cross-off. The energy is still low at 278, but it’s glassy and lined up. Thursday afternoon stays clean with a 2ft SSW swell and a slight air from the NNE – that’s a nice window for a few waves.

Friday 21st has a 2ft SW swell, but the morning is cross-on from the SE with light wind, so it’s a bit bumpy. The afternoon settles back to cross-off and clean, with the same size swell. Not a standout, but workable.

Then we hit a rough patch. From Saturday 22nd right through to the end of August, the wind cranks up from the ENE – strong to fresh breezes, mostly 19 to 28 mph. The swell jumps around but stays mostly small or short-period, with energy climbing into the 400s and 500s – moderate, but the wind kills it. Sunday 23rd sees a 6ft ENE windswell with a 7-second period – that’s short, choppy, and messy. Not worth the drive.

We do get a bit of a bump in size around the 29th to 31st of August, with 7ft to 7ft ENE windswells, but the period is still short (6 to 8 seconds) and the wind is relentless. This is more of a kite-surfing setup than a clean paddle session.

Now, looking into the first week of September, things start to get interesting. On the 1st of September, we see a 7ft ENE swell building with a longer period – 10 to 11 seconds – and the energy jumps to 1045 and 1194, which is strong. The wind is still fresh from the ENE, but cross-off, so it’s clean. This is for experts only though – anything over 8ft is real heavy, and 7ft is getting up there, especially with that long period. The break is a reef, so it’ll hold, but you need to know what you’re doing.

The best of the whole run looks like the 2nd and 3rd of September. On the 2nd, we’ve got a 7ft east swell with an 11-second period, and the energy is massive at 1534 – very strong. The wind is moderate from the ENE, clean and cross-off. That’s the standout. The 3rd of September drops a little to 6ft from the ENE, still with a 10-second period and strong energy at 1099, but the wind swaps to cross-shore from the east, so there’s a bit of chop. Still, it’s a solid window for the experienced crew.

Overall, the first week is pretty quiet. From Thursday 20th August things perk up, then there’s a long gap of poor conditions from the 22nd to the 31st. The real action is at the start of September – the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd – with the 2nd being the pick of the bunch. Keep an eye on it, but remember it’s a long-range call, so don’t book the week off just yet.

Rusty.

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