Sawtell-The Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you—this 16-day stretch for Sawtell-The Island is a slow grind, not a fireworks show. We’ve got a long stretch of small, junky surf ahead, with one or two windows where it might actually get interesting. Don’t get too excited, but don’t write it off completely either.

The first real look at anything is Saturday morning, August 8th. It’s small, only 2ft of east swell, and the energy is weak at 102. The wind is a light cross-offshore from the SSW, which will keep it clean, but it’s just not doing much. The water temp is 67°F, which is about average for this time of year, so no surprises there. It’s surfable, but you’ll be working hard for nothing.

Through Sunday and Monday, the swell bumps up a little—3ft to 4ft—but the wind swings onshore and gets lumpy. Sunday afternoon is a write-off with a fresh 30 km/h NNE breeze. Monday isn’t much better. Then we hit a proper flat spell. Tuesday morning, August 11th, is dead glassy with 2ft, but energy drops to 81. That’s a real lull. The next few days stay in the 2ft to 3ft range, and the wind is all over the place. It’s a lot of hoping and waiting.

Now, here’s the one that stands out. Thursday morning, August 13th, is still small, but keep an eye on the afternoon. The swell jumps to 8ft from the south, and the energy goes ballistic—1379. That’s strong, powerful stuff. The wind is a cross-shore SE at 20 km/h, so it’ll be a bit bumpy, but the size is there. This is a serious step up in energy, and it’s the biggest swell of the whole run. It’s a short period (10s), groundswell, so it might be a bit lumpy, but the power is real.

The next morning, Friday August 14th, is the real gem. The swell drops to a more manageable 5ft from the SSE, the period stretches to 11 seconds, and the wind is glassy—dead calm. The energy is still solid at 443. This is your cleanest, best-shaped window. The conditions are as good as it gets for this stretch. That’s your standout, hands down.

After that, it’s back to the grind. The weekend and the following week are small, 2ft to 3ft, with onshore winds and rain showers. There’s a brief pulse on the 21st with 3ft and a 10-second period, but the wind is up at 20 km/h, so it won’t be clean. The energy stays low—under 250 for most of it.

So, the long and short of it: Friday the 14th is your day. Thursday afternoon the 13th for the big, raw power if you’re an expert and don’t mind some chop. Everything else is a skunk. The gap between the 14th and the 19th is a real dead zone. It’s a frustrating pattern, but that Friday morning is worth waiting for.

Rusty out.

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