Ruggles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let’s be straight up – the outlook for Ruggles (reef and point) over the next 16 days is about as flat as a lake. We’ve got a long, quiet stretch ahead, so let’s walk through it.

The pattern from now, starting on the 15th of August, is grim. For the first few days, we're looking at tiny, weak waves. Saturday the 15th, you’ve got a tiny 0.7ft southerly swell with a short 6-second period. The combined energy is weak (5), and while the morning goes glassy, the afternoon gets a messy cross-shore chop. It’s basically unsurfable.

Sunday the 16th and Monday the 17th don't offer any relief. The swell bumps up slightly to 3ft on Monday, but it’s wind-affected and messy with a cross-onshore breeze, and the period stays short at 5-6 seconds. The energy climbs to a weak 58 on Monday morning, then to a moderate 109 in the afternoon, but the quality is poor – it’s lumpy and choppy. Not worth a paddle.

Tuesday the 18th through to the end of next week stays poor. The swell drops back to 3ft or less, and the wind keeps it bumpy. We do get a few clean windows – like Tuesday morning with a light cross-offshore breeze – but the swell is too small and weak (energy in the 50-70 range) to do anything with. The vibe is flat and frustrating.

The standout? Honestly, there isn't one. If I had to point to the best of a bad bunch, it’s the very end of the period. Around the 27th of August, we finally see some offshore wind (15 km/h from the NNW in the morning) with a small 2ft southerly swell (period 6-7 seconds) and a combined energy of 54. It’s clean, but it’s tiny. Not a day to get excited about, but at least you might get a waist-high wave at a point break if you’re desperate.

The water temp is sitting at 23°C, which is about a degree warmer than usual for this time of year – a touch warm, nothing crazy.

The rest of the run, up to the 30th of August, stays small. The longest period we see is 12 seconds on the 23rd, but with a swell height of only 0.3ft, it's effectively flat. The combined energy never breaks into triple digits after that brief Monday spike, with most days sitting well under 100 – it's a weak, quiet pattern.

For a spot like Ruggles, which is fairly consistent, this is a real bummer. There’s just no power in the water for paddle surfing. With the little swell and onshore winds through much of the period, the setup looks more interesting for a kite than a surfboard. Hang tight, the forecasts can change.

Rusty

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