Saint Annes Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on offer for the local stretch around Saint Annes.

First up, I gotta be honest with you – the outlook is a bit of a tough one. The water temp is sitting at 59°F right now, which is a touch colder than we’d normally expect for this time of year, so you'll want a decent wetsuit if you're heading out.

The first few days are a real struggle. We’ve got some solid groundswell pushing through Monday morning, the 27th of July, with a 4ft swell from the SSW and a cracking 18-second period. That’s proper long-period energy, and the combined energy reading is a solid 1058, so there's plenty of push. But the wind is cross-shore from the WNW at 15 km/h, which is putting a slight chop on the surface. The tide and conditions are just making it a bit marginal, so it's not really worth paddling out for. The afternoon actually gets a bit worse with the wind picking up.

Honestly, the whole first week is pretty grim. The wind just won't play nice, staying cross or cross-onshore, and the surf quality is consistently marked as poor. The swell direction swings around to the WNW from the 30th of July, but the period drops right off to a short 8 seconds, and the energy is weak. That’s just windswell junk. There's a gap of several days here where I wouldn't even bother.

Heads up for the 2nd of August, Sunday. The swell actually bumps up to 7ft from the WNW, but it's still a short, weak period of 9 seconds (energy at 703). The wind is still cross-onshore, making it choppy and messy. For most of us, that's a write-off. If you're an expert, you might find something, but it’s not going to be pretty.

The best chance in this whole 16-day window, and I mean the only real standout, will be on Monday the 3rd of August. The wind is forecast to go light and offshore from the SW in the morning, coming straight out of the land. With a 5ft swell from the WNW and a much better 10-second period (energy of 550), that could actually clean up nicely. The description says "unknown" wave state, but that offshore wind combined with the long-period swell hitting a reef setup like Saint Annes could produce some proper, clean lines. It won't be a big day, but it's by far the best on offer. The afternoon shifts to a cross-onshore, so get it early.

After that, it’s back to the struggle. The second week of the forecast is a real washout with tiny, weak swells and poor conditions. Thursday the 6th of August sees a tiny 1ft swell with a super long 21-second period in the afternoon, but with cross-onshore wind, it’s just not going to happen.

So, bottom line: the next week and a half is mostly a write-off. The one bright spot is the morning of the 3rd of August with that offshore wind. It’s a long way out, so don't lock it in, but it’s the best chance we’ve got.

Rusty.

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