Rye Ocean Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you – this is a tricky outlook for Rye Ocean Beach. The surf’s gonna be on the menu most of the time, but the problem is, it’s just too darn big for this spot for most of it. The water temp is sitting at about 56°F, which is pretty normal for this time of year.

We kick things off, but there’s a rough start. Monday the 7th is a write-off – strong cross-onshore winds and lumpy conditions with a combined wave energy of 535. Skip it.

Things get interesting from Tuesday morning the 8th, but it's not for everyone. We’ve got a 4ft SW swell with an incredible 18-second period – that’s proper groundswell energy, with a combined energy reading of 1846 – but it's cross-onshore and choppy, so it's marginal.

The real standout, the one to circle on your calendar, is Tuesday afternoon the 8th. The swell pushes up to 7ft from the SW with a 17-second period and a combined energy of 3023. More importantly, we get light onshore wind, and the conditions are looking favourable. A score over 10/10 confirms this. This is your best bet in the whole 16-day window – clean enough, and the long-period SW swell matches the optimum direction for this exposed beach and reef setup. Be aware, though, at 7ft, it’s getting big for beginners.

The rest of the first week is a mess. Wednesday the 9th through Thursday the 10th see massive swell (12ft to 13ft) and strong onshore winds – that’s a hard no for paddle surfing; looks more interesting for the kite crew.

The next real highlight comes at the end of the first week and into the weekend. Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th are both excellent calls. Friday sees a 7ft SW swell (14-15 second period) with light cross-onshore winds and a combined energy of 1956 to 2293. Saturday the 12th is even cleaner – a 8ft to 7ft SW swell with light cross-offshore and offshore winds, giving you clean waves. Combined energy sits at 2458 and 1890. Again, at over 7ft, it's for the stronger paddlers and advanced surfers. Crowds are possible here on the weekend, so get in early.

We hit a lull from Sunday the 13th into Monday the 14th. The swell drops to 4ft to 5ft, but winds are strong and conditions are poor or marginal – not worth it.

Tuesday the 15th and Wednesday the 16th are back in the “too big” range (7ft to 8ft) but with light winds. A solid call for confident surfers if you can handle it, with combined energy up to 2813.

Thursday the 17th is another standout – an 8ft swell from the SW with a 16-second period and fresh cross-offshore winds, giving you clean conditions. Combined energy is 3111. That is a powerful, clean run for the more experienced crew.

After that, we get blown out on Friday the 18th with strong winds, then Saturday the 19th is back to huge, messy swell (10ft to 12ft).

The last part of the outlook, from Sunday the 21st to Tuesday the 22nd of September, shows a massive, clean but very large swell. 10ft to 12ft from the SW with light offshore or cross-off winds and combined energy readings over 4000 (4838 and 5832) – that’s seriously strong wave energy. This is expert-only territory, and even then, it might be a close-out, especially at a beach break. The long period (15-16 seconds) means it’ll be better on the reef sections.

So, to sum it up: Tuesday afternoon the 8th is your clear winner for a solid, clean session. Saturday the 12th is the best bet for clean weekend waves for the experienced. Everything else is either too small, too windy, or too big for a good paddle. This is a spot where it doesn’t stay flat for long, so the forecasts will change, but for now, pick your window carefully.

Rusty.

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