Seaside Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – it’s a pretty quiet stretch ahead for Seaside Cove. We’re looking at a long run of small, weak, and choppy conditions before a late spike of energy shows up, but even that comes with its own problems.

Right now, from Monday the 24th of August all the way through to Monday the 31st of August, the surf is basically flat and messy. Swell heights are hanging around 1ft to 2ft, coming from the SW, and the period is mostly long – 14 to 18 seconds – which means these are groundswells, but there’s next to no energy behind them (combined energy readings sit between 114 and 294). The wind is cross or cross-onshore for most of it, chopping everything up. Water temp is 58°F, which is about a degree and a half colder than usual for this time of year – feels a bit nippy. Honestly, there’s nothing worth paddling out for. If you’re desperate, Sunday the 30th of August is hanging onto a “marginal” tag with 2ft and light cross-onshore breezes, but don’t expect much.

Then we get a bit more oomph from the 1st of September. Tuesday the 1st sees a WNW swell push in at 3ft to 4ft with a short 10-second period, and combined energy jumps to 363 to 416 – that’s moderate. But the wind is messy: SSW at 12 mph in the afternoon making it choppy. Wednesday the 2nd of September has the biggest swell of the whole 16 days: 6ft from the SW, but the period drops right off to just 7 seconds – that’s short-period junk. Energy is 710, so it’s got some push, but it’s breaking sloppy. The morning has light cross-shore winds (S at 6 mph) so it’ll be a bit less bumpy, but the wave quality is “marginal”. That’s more of a kite surfing day than a paddle surfing day, honestly. The afternoon turns choppy again. Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th of September keep up 4ft to 5ft from the WNW with 9 to 10-second periods, but winds swing onshore or cross-onshore – not clean.

The standout window, if you can call it that, is the morning of Wednesday the 2nd of September. You’ve got 6ft of swell and light cross-shore winds, but that 7-second period means it’s going to be soft and lumpy – fine for a bigger board or a kite, but not the kind of wave you’d tell your mates about. After that, it fades back to tiny, weak SW groundswell from the 5th of September through to the 8th of September, with combined energy dropping below 200 again and wind onshore.

Crowds at Seaside Cove can be an issue – it’s listed as “sometimes” busy – but with this run of tiny, poor-quality surf, there won’t be many folks out. Honestly, if you’re after a proper wave, this isn’t your window.

Rusty.

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