Rosie's Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s break down what’s cooking at Rosie’s Bay. It’s a slow burner, but there’s a couple of days that might get your heart rate up.

The first week is pretty ordinary. The water is sitting at 59°, which is dead average for the season, so nothing weird there.

We kick off on Tuesday, 4th of August with a 5ft swell from the WNW, but the wind is a light cross-shore, and the energy is moderate (481). The sets are short at 8 seconds, so it’s a bit weak and crumbly. It’s a marginal day. Wednesday the 5th morning shows a cleaner 4ft with a light offshore from the SSW, but it’s still a short 8-second period. The afternoon bumps up to 5ft (577 energy), but the wind goes cross-shore again. Thursday the 6th is the same story – 4ft to 5ft, but with cross-onshore winds and a period dropping to 7 seconds. Nothing to write home about.

Friday the 7th is a total dog. The swell drops to 1ft, and while there’s a long-period 13-second groundswell in the morning with offshore wind, it’s just too tiny. The afternoon gets a nasty 25 km/h cross-shore wind on a 4ft, 6-second closeout. Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th are poor with messy, short-period windswell and strong onshore winds. By Monday the 10th, we’ve got 2ft of long-period SSW groundswell (16 seconds), but the wind is cross-onshore, so it’s not worth the paddle.

There’s a real dry spell here. From the 7th right through the 11th, there’s nothing worth paddling out for. The little pulses of long-period swell (15-18 seconds) are just too small and too wind-beaten.

Then the action picks up. On Wednesday the 12th, the afternoon brings a jump to 6ft from the WNW (501 energy), but it’s a short 6-second period with cross-onshore winds, so it’s still a bit messy. The real standout is Thursday the 13th. The afternoon sees a solid 8ft pulse from the WNW with 657 energy. That’s a powerful, heavy swell. But the forecast says it’s predicted to be too big for this break. The wind is light cross-onshore, but for a 8ft wave, that’s expert-only territory, and it comes with a warning. If you’re a charger, that’s your window, but for the average surfer, it’s a hard pass.

After that, the swell drops back to the 1ft to 2ft range for the rest of the second week, with very long-period SSW groundswells (15-19 seconds). The best of the bunch is Wednesday the 19th of August. The morning shows a glassy 4ft from the W with a 12-second period and 518 energy. That’s a clean, lined-up wave with offshore winds. It’s not big, but it’s the most user-friendly, quality wave in the whole forecast. The afternoon stays glassy with the same size. That’s your pick for a fun, uncrowded session.

So, the call is: if you’re a local expert, the Thursday 13th afternoon could be a wild ride, but be careful. For everyone else, mark your calendar for the morning of Wednesday the 19th of August. That’s the cleanest, most rideable swell we’ve got.

Rusty.

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