Sandy Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's get into it. This is a rough stretch ahead, but there are a couple of moments worth paddling out for.

Sandy Beach is a beach and reef set-up, exposed to the swell. For the time of year, the water temp is about average, nothing unusual there. The issue is, for the next several days and into the first week, the wind is a real problem. It’s blowing cross or cross-onshore from the ENE most of the time, with moderate to strong breezes, which is chopping everything up. The combined swell energy is moderate to strong at times, but the quality is just poor. You’ve got a mix of short period windswell and some longer period groundswell from the SSE and SSW, but the wind ruins it. There’s a run of days from Tuesday the 21st right through to Sunday the 26th where the surf is either poor or marginal. It’s a long gap of flat, messy conditions.

Now, things start to look a little more interesting around Monday the 27th and into the 28th. We get a pulse of easterly swell, with the combined energy climbing into the strong range. The swell height is getting up there, around 6ft to 7ft from the east, with a decent period of 14 seconds. This is proper groundswell, which at a beach and reef can sometimes close out, but it’ll bring power. The crowd factor is 'often' here, so expect company. Unfortunately, the wind is still cross-shore from the NE, so it won’t be glassy, but it’s manageable. The best bet of the whole outlook is probably the morning of Tuesday the 28th of July. The swell is 7ft from the east, and the wind is a moderate cross-shore breeze. That’s the biggest, most energetic swell of the period, but at that size (over 8ft), it’s really only for experienced surfers. It’s not perfect due to the wind, but it’s the closest we get to something with real punch.

After that, the swell drops off rapidly. By the 30th of July, it’s down to 4ft and the energy is fading. The end of the outlook, into early August, is back to poor conditions with weak, short-period windswell and onshore winds. There’s a brief flicker of cleaner conditions on the 4th of August afternoon with a cross-offshore breeze, but the swell is only 3ft. It’s not a standout.

Honestly, the long-range stuff for the first week of August looks pretty grim. If you’re looking for the best wave, it’s that Tuesday morning, the 28th of July, when the east swell is pumping. For the rest, you’re mostly battling the wind.

Rusty.

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