Salt Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, and we’re looking at Salt Rock. Gotta be honest, it’s pretty bleak for the next couple of weeks. We’ve got a run of poor conditions, so let’s walk through it.

Right now, we start with a real struggle. Wednesday morning is clear, but the wind is cross-on from the south at 16 mph, and we’ve got a tiny 2ft SSW groundswell with a long 15-second period. The energy is weak, only 274, and the water is sitting at 68°, which is a bit colder than normal for this time of year. It’s just choppy and poor. The afternoon doesn’t get much better; the swell picks up to 3ft, and the energy jumps to a moderate 445, but the wind has dropped, and the conditions are described as marginal.

Thursday looks like a write-off with fresh cross-offshore winds, and then Friday we get a jump in size but it’s a mess. Friday morning sees an 8ft S swell with a short, weak period of 8 seconds, pummelled by a 22 mph cross wind and heavy rain. That swell energy reads 805, but with those winds, it’s a no-go. By Friday afternoon, it’s 12ft and cross-on at 22 mph, and the energy spikes to 2393 – that’s serious power, but it’s completely blown out and lumpy. For a beginner reef, that’s way too big, and the quality is just poor.

Saturday the 5th and Sunday the 6th offer barely a whisper of hope. Saturday morning has a 7ft swell from the SSE, 9 mph cross-on wind, and the energy is a moderate 1040. The waves are described as marginal, and it stays fairly choppy. We finally get a glimmer on Thursday the 10th of September, with a very long-period 16-second groundswell from the SSW at 1ft, but the energy is a weak 101, and it’s still onshore choppy.

The only time I’d raise an eyebrow for a look is on Monday the 7th. Monday morning shows a 8ft S swell with a *very long* 17-second period, and the combined energy is a massive 3128 – that’s strong. But here’s the catch: it’s coming with an 19 mph cross wind from the NE. It’s classed as marginal. That long period groundswell will make it drain fast at this beach-and-reef setup, so it’s really one for expert surfers only, and only if you can handle the lumpy cross-chop.

There’s another bump on Monday the 14th of September, with a 8ft S swell and an 8-second period, but it’s onshore and again classed as poor. It just keeps coming in with messy, windy conditions through to the end of the outlook.

Look, for a beginner reef that’s fairly consistent, the story here is that we’re in a long stretch of poor surf quality thanks to strong winds that are never quite offshore. For the majority of the next 16 days, the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than a paddle session. Keep an eye on a morning that goes glassy, but that isn't showing up yet.

Stay patient, and check back in.

- Rusty

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