Rockpiles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s break it down.

First thing’s first, the start of this run is a bit of a dud for Rockpiles. Sunday the 26th, we’ve got a nice long-period groundswell from the SSW, 16-second intervals and a good bit of energy (1220), but the size is only 3ft in the morning and a fresh cross-off breeze from the ENE is killing the shape. Water temp is a pretty normal 80°, so nothing weird there. It’s just not coming together. The afternoon is worse, and Monday the 27th is even more frustrating with a touch more size but the same messy wind.

Now Tuesday the 28th, things start to get some real push. Swell builds to 7ft by the morning and 8ft in the afternoon, both from the east with a 13-second period. That’s a lot of power (1820 and 2553). But the wind is still a fresh cross-off from the NE, so the surface is bumpy and it’s going to be pretty full-on. That’s big, powerful, and only for the experienced crew.

Then Wednesday the 29th morning. This is where it gets interesting. We’ve got 8ft of east-northeast swell, but the period has dropped to 10 seconds, and the wind goes totally glassy. The energy is still strong at 1597. The size is serious, the conditions will be clean, but that shorter period means it won’t have the same heavy grind as a deep-water groundswell. Rockpiles is an exposed reef, so it can handle it, but this is a session for proper surfers only. The afternoon drops right off – only 2ft from the south with a long period, and the score drops. The morning is the only window.

Thursday the 30th gives you a little something. The morning is a bit messy with a light cross-shore and short period, but the afternoon cleans up. A nice 3ft from the south with a 13-second period and a light cross-off breeze scores well. That’s a fun, easy paddle and clean little waves.

From Friday the 31st on, things get heavy, but ugly. The swell holds size through the first week of August, with waves running 6ft to 10ft, and hitting a solid 10ft on Saturday the 1st. But it’s all short-period ENE wind swell (8-9 seconds), and the wind is a strong cross-off. The energy numbers are all over 1000, so there’s plenty of power, but the quality scores are either 0 or 1 out of 10. This is churned-up, bumpy stuff. Honestly, with that much size and strong wind, this looks way more fun for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

After the 6th of August, the swell fades to nothing. By Thursday the 6th, we’ve got a tiny 1ft groundswell from the SSW with a 16-second period, but the wind is a strong 35 km/h cross-off, and the scores are zeros. That pattern of small, windy, and messy runs through to the end of the outlook on the 10th of August. There’s nothing worth chasing in that second week.

So, to sum it up: the standout is the morning of Wednesday, 29th July. If you’re an experienced surfer and can get on that glassy 8ft session, that’s your pick. For a cleaner, smaller wave, the afternoon of Thursday, 30th July is your best bet. The rest is either too windy, too big and messy, or just flat out poor.

Rusty.

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