Sandy Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. I’ve got to be straight with you – this next stretch for Sandy Beach is a tough one. There’s no real surf to get excited about for the whole 16-day run, from now through to early September. The wind is the main problem, hammering in from the ENE every single day, and it’s almost always a fresh to strong cross-shore. That’s going to leave the water lumpy, messy, and just plain rubbish for any kind of decent wave riding.

Let’s look at what’s happening. We kick off on Tuesday, 25 August, with a 6 ft cross-on swell out of the east at a short 7 seconds. The wind is 22 mph ENE, and it’s described as “fresh cross-onshore and lumpy”. The wave energy is moderate at best (586) but the surf quality is poor. No go. That same pattern sticks around for days. Wednesday morning sees a tiny 2 ft swell from the SSW, but it’s 14-second period – long-period groundswell that would normally have some punch – but the cross-wind messes it all up (607 energy). Through Thursday and Friday, we’ve got S swell around 4 ft to 3 ft with periods up to 17 seconds, and the energy climbs (861 on Thursday morning), but again, that ENE cross-wind and lumpy conditions kill any chance of clean faces.

Come Saturday, 29 August, and Sunday, 30 August, the swell turns back east-northeast, picking up to 5 ft-6 ft, but the period drops to 6-7 seconds – short, weak wind swell. The wind stays a fresh 19-25 mph cross-shore. The water is 81°F here, which is about average for the time of year (anomaly of 0.7°F). That doesn’t help the waves, though.

We get into early September, and on Tuesday, 1 September, there’s a 6 ft ENE swell at 8 seconds with 744 energy – still moderate, but the wind is 19 mph cross-shore and the quality is still poor. The most interesting pulse is around Saturday, 5 September afternoon, and Sunday, 6 September morning, when the ENE swell reaches 6 ft and 6 ft with a 13-second period. The combined energy jumps to 1264 and 1454 – that’s strong wave energy. But the wind cranks up to 25 mph from the ENE, and the description for Sunday is “strong cross-shore with messy cross-chop”. You’d be scratching for anything rideable.

For a beach and reef setup like Sandy Beach, that much ENE wind and cross-shore chop is just brutal. The swell direction is east-northeast, and the optimum swell direction here is ESE, so we’re not even getting the best angle. Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

When I look at the whole 16-day window, every single entry has “poor surf conditions” except for one borderline call on Saturday, 5 September afternoon, which is “marginal surf forecast or questionable tide conditions” – but even that one gets a score that says it’s not worth paddling out. The consistency on offer is fairly consistent, but that means it’s consistently bad. There are no standout days, no windows of glassy offshore wind – it’s all ENE cross or cross-on, from 12 mph up to 28 mph.

So, the honest truth is: don’t bother. Keep the board in the car, maybe drive somewhere else, or just sit this one out. Forecasts can change, but this run looks locked in.

Rusty.

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