Rolling Stones Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’m not gonna lie—this stretch starts off as a bit of a write-off. The first few days are a mess of cross-onshore wind and lumpy, poor-quality surf. We’ve got a solid pulse of swell rolling in, but the wind just ruins it. Monday the 7th has 6ft of southerly swell with a short 7-second period, and Tuesday the 8th gets even bigger at 10ft, but it’s all cross-onshore and lumpy. Not worth paddling out for.

The first real sign of life comes on Wednesday morning the 9th. Rolling Stones (reef) cleans right up with a light westerly cross-offshore breeze, 5ft of southerly swell at 8 seconds, and a combined energy of 365—moderate, nothing mind-blowing, but it’s clean. The water temperature is sitting at 55°, which is about 1° cooler than normal for this time of year, so nothing too unusual, just a touch fresh.

Thursday the 10th drops off hard with tiny 3ft swell, so we skip it. Friday the 11th morning shows a bit of hope with 5ft of southerly swell and clean conditions, but the period is a short 6 seconds, so it’s weak and won’t hold shape well. The combined energy is only 160. Not a standout.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Sunday the 13th morning—7ft of southerly groundswell with a 16-second period, and the wind is a clean cross-offshore from the west. Combined energy is huge at 2537. That’s a serious amount of energy. But the report calls it marginal due to tide, and it’s only for experienced surfers. This is a reef break, and that long period groundswell will make it wall up nicely. Keep an eye on the tide.

The real standout, though, is Monday the 14th morning. Rolling Stones is looking absolute pumping. 7ft of southerly swell at 14 seconds, light west-northwest cross-offshore wind, combined energy of 1686, and the report says “excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers.” This is the pick of the first week. Crowds are “sometimes” possible, so you might have a few mates out, but it’s worth it.

We get a bit of a lull mid-week, then Thursday the 17th morning brings 6ft of southerly swell at 14 seconds—again clean cross-offshore, with 1433 energy. Good but not as good as Monday.

Now, fast-forward to the second week. The real bomb lands on Monday the 21st. That morning, 10ft of east-southeast groundswell, 11-second period, light north offshore wind, combined energy of 2366, and “excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers.” Tuesday the 22nd is even bigger. 12ft east-southeast swell at 12-13 seconds, clean cross-offshore wind, and energy readings of 3751 and 4448. That’s massive. This is a big, powerful groundswell—long period, so it’ll be clean and lined up at the reef. Only for experts, obviously. But if you’ve got the skills, those two days are the best of the whole 16-day window. Just be aware that long-period groundswell can make paddling out easier between sets, but at 12ft, it’s a serious session.

Overall, the first week is a slow burn with one red-letter day on Monday the 14th, and the second week delivers a proper swell window from the 21st and 22nd. The gap between the 14th and 21st has a few clean but smaller days, but nothing that screams “drop everything.”

Rusty.

Read more