Saint Annes Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the cards for Saint Annes over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – it's a quiet period. We're looking at a long stretch of small, messy surf. The first recommendation doesn't pop up until Thursday the 27th of August, but even then, it's not exactly firing. The real story here is that we're going to see days and days of very marginal conditions.

We kick off on Thursday afternoon the 27th with a small 4ft swell coming from the WNW. The energy is weak, sitting at just 272. The wind is a cross-off from the NNW at 12 mph which is okay, but the conditions are described as "poor" and the water is a bit colder than normal for this time of year at 60°. Not worth getting excited about.

Friday the 28th is the only real standout in the whole window. The morning shows a much longer period swell – we're talking 19 seconds of groundswell. This is very long period stuff, the kind that holds up best at a reef setup like Saint Annes. The swell height is a modest 3ft from the SSW, but the energy is a solid 950. The wind is a light cross-off from the NW at 9 mph. This is the session you want. It's not going to be huge, but the quality should be there with clean, lined-up waves. After that, it falls apart. The afternoon sees the wind pick up to 16 mph and go cross-shore, turning it into a chop fest.

From Saturday the 29th of August all the way through to Friday the 11th of September, it’s a grim run. The swell sticks around the 2ft to 4ft range, mostly from the SSW with a mix of short and long periods. The combined energy fluctuates, but the wind is almost always cross, cross-on, or just plain messy. We see a lot of "poor surf conditions" in the notes, with moderate breezes and a cross-chop. There are a couple of mornings like the 4th and the 10th of September where the swell bumps up a bit and the winds are light, but the conditions are still described as "marginal". Honestly, for a beach-and-reef setup like this, with the wind angles we're seeing, the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing through most of this.

So what's the call? If you have to get wet, make it Friday morning the 28th of August. That small, long-period groundswell with clean cross-off winds is your best bet. Otherwise, save your energy for a better forecast; it tends not to stay poor for long and forecasts can change.

Rusty.

Read more