Saaga Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, surfers. Rusty here, and I’m looking at the charts for our local patch. It’s a bit of a tough one to call for the next couple of weeks, to be honest. For a spot that’s a fairly exposed reef, we’ve got a lot of wind and chop in the forecast that’s going to make things messy. The water temp is sitting at about 81°, which is pretty much standard for this time of year, no surprises there.

The first real chance of anything decent looks like it might shape up on Thursday the 27th of August. There’s a solid groundswell filling in from the SW with a long 15-second period, pumping the combined energy up to a hefty 1469. The problem is the wind is a fresh cross-shore breeze, so it’ll be lumpy. The wave height is small at 4ft, and the conditions are marginal at best. Thursday afternoon sees the swell jump to 8ft from the ESE, with energy climbing to 1724, but again, that fresh cross-shore wind is going to ruin it with chop.

We see a similar story on Friday the 28th. The swell hits a peak for the experts in the morning, with a solid 10ft of ESE swell and a huge energy reading of 2061. But the wind is a strong cross-shore breeze, making it messy and probably only for those with big cojones. Not a beginner’s day.

Things get a little more interesting right at the back end of the month. On Monday the 31st of August, the wind finally drops right out. By the afternoon we’ve got a light breeze from the ENE, swinging cross-offshore, and the description says “clean.” The swell is only a modest 4ft from the E with a 9-second period, and the energy is moderate at 590, but it’s our first real window of clean, rideable surf. It won’t be pumping, but it’ll be far better than the rest of the week.

Looking further out into the first week of September, there’s a big spike of energy on Thursday the 3rd, with a 8ft ESE swell and energy over 1773, but that fresh to strong cross-shore wind is back again. Then on Friday the 4th, a long-period S groundswell fills in with a massive energy reading of 3040, but it’s cross-onshore and lumpy, so it’s more of a “watch and see” situation than a “go now” situation.

The standout in this whole outlook, the one to highlight, is Monday the 31st of August at Saaga. It’s a reef break, so those long-period components from earlier days won’t cause it to close out like a beachie. For that afternoon session, you’ve got clean, glassy-ish conditions with a light offshore touch, and a rideable 4ft E swell. It’s not a classic, but given the wind pattern, it’s the cleanest wave we’re going to get. Keep a close eye on the lighter winds the morning of August 31st as well, as that ENE breeze is cross-off and might offer a few clean ones, too. After that, the onshores look set to return and muddle things up again for the first week of September.

Rusty.

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