Scarecrows Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Alright, let’s look at what we’ve got at Scarecrows over the next couple of weeks. It’s a solid, exposed reef break that loves a good SW swell, but the truth is, we’re in for a bit of a mixed bag. The first week or so is mostly about small, inconsistent pulses with tricky cross-shore winds, so we’re waiting for the real juice. The water’s sitting pretty warm at 85°F, which is bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

The forecast gets going from Tuesday the 8th of September. Early on, we’ve got a long-period SSW groundswell coming in at 4 ft on Tuesday morning, with 18-second intervals, so plenty of energy between sets. The issue is the cross-shore SSE breeze at 12 mph, kicking up a bit of a cross-chop. It’s not terrible, but it’s not clean either. Wave energy is solid, hitting 1352 (moderate-to-strong). By Tuesday afternoon, the swell bumps up to 5 ft, same direction, but the wind stays messy.

Wednesday the 9th sees the swell holding around 5 ft to 6 ft, but the cross-shore wind picks up to 16 mph, making it feel a bit lumpy. The longer-period swell (15 to 17 seconds) means it’ll have some grunt, but at a beach-and-reef setup like this, it might be a bit fat and straight at times. Honestly, it’s not firing. The wave energy is moderate to strong (1450–1584), but the quality just isn’t there for a good paddle session.

We roll into Thursday the 10th with a glimmer – the wind shifts to a cross-offshore from the SE, giving us cleaner conditions in the morning. Swell sits at 5 ft from the SSW, but the period is a solid 16 seconds. It’s still a bit marginal according to the feel, only scoring a tick over ‘questionable tide’. Through to the weekend, it’s rinse and repeat: morning cross-off winds cleaning things up, but the afternoons get messy again. The real standout for this early stretch is Saturday the 12th of September. Saturday morning has a clean SW swell at 5 ft with a 19-second period, and the energy jumps to 2128 – that’s serious power for an experienced crew. Saturday afternoon pushes 6 ft of SW swell with 19-second intervals and energy peaking at 3101. That’s the kind of juice that’ll have the reef working, but the cross-shore wind in the arvo will put a bit of a chop on the face. Still, the morning session on Saturday is your best bet for a proper session in the first week.

Sunday the 13th brings a bigger pulse – 7 ft in the morning, clean again with cross-off winds, but that’s getting into expert territory at over 7 ft. That’s not for the faint-hearted. The afternoon remains lumpy.

Now, let’s skip to the real story. The second half of the outlook, especially from the 20th of September, starts to look promising, but the clear standout is Tuesday the 22nd of September. The morning of the 22nd serves up a solid 7 ft of S swell with a 19-second period, and get this – light cross-off winds from the ESE at just 3 mph. The wave energy is a thumping 4271 (strong). By afternoon, it goes glassy with a 8 ft S swell and 18-second period, energy at 4206. That’s a proper groundswell with power and shape, and the glassy conditions will have Scarecrows looking like a postcard. This is the one to circle. It’s a little far out, so treat it as a promising, but it’s the best on offer. Keep in mind, with that long period, it might break a bit straight at a beach break, but at a reef like this, it’ll line up beautifully.

Before that, Monday the 21st has a glassy morning with a smaller 5 ft SW swell, and the afternoon brings a 3 ft swell with a 21-second period – that’s an incredibly long interval, so expect long lulls and a few big, walling sets. Not ideal for consistent waves, but the ones you get will be epic.

After that, the 23rd sees the swell holding at 7 ft to 7 ft, with clean morning conditions, but the energy drops. The final day on the 22nd is where it’s at.

So, to wrap it up: the first week is mostly a write-off aside from Saturday morning the 12th. The second week starts to build, and Tuesday the 22nd of September is the true standout – big S swell, glassy, powerful. That’s your day. For the less keen, the morning of the 21st will be clean but smaller. There’s a few days of gap with no real recommendations between the 18th and 19th, but it comes back to life.

This is Rusty, signing off.

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