Shark Island (Cronulla) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here again. Let's break down the next couple of weeks at Shark Island. It's a bit of a slow start, but there are definitely a few windows where it could get real good.

The early part of the period is pretty rough. Wednesday afternoon is a complete washout – strong southerly winds and close to 10ft of short-period, junky swell. No one wants a bar of that. Thursday cleans up a bit but it's still pretty ordinary with moderate winds.

The first real chance comes Friday morning. The swell drops to a cleaner 6ft from the south with a 10-second period, and the wind turns light offshore, so it should be pretty clean. The energy backs off to 556, but with those conditions, that's fine.

Saturday morning is the pick of the first week in my books. The swell settles to 4ft from the SSE with a long 12-second period, and it's dead glassy – no wind at all. Moderate energy at 478, but the clean conditions will make it feel better than that. This is definitely a standout for the early run. Saturday arvo, though, the nor'easter kicks up and it gets chopped out.

Sunday morning through to Thursday the 17th is a dead zone. The swell just fades away and we get a lot of onshore wind. The energy readings drop into the low hundreds and below – the ocean basically goes flat. You're looking at about six days with nothing worth chasing. The 15th sees a bump to around 5ft, but it’s short-period and windy, so it's a bit of a tease.

Then things get interesting. On Friday the 18th, the wind swings offshore and the swell shows some teeth – 8ft from the south on a short 7-second period. The energy is a strong 659. It's raw windswell, but with that offshore breeze, the more experienced crew could have a ball. It's a standout, but it's more about grunt than perfection.

Saturday the 19th is where the real magic is. The forecast shows a solid 10ft from the SSE early with a long 11-second period, and the energy is huge at 1788. That's a proper groundswell. The wind is cross-off and moderate early, but it eases as the day goes on. By Saturday afternoon, the swell is still a solid 8ft from the SSE on a 10-second period, with 1233 of energy and only a gentle cross-off breeze. It looks very, very good. This is the standout of the whole period, no doubt. Just remember, at this size, it's strictly for experts.

After that, the swell fades out fast. Sunday and Monday are sloppy with onshore winds, and from the 21st onwards it's back to tiny, weak surf. There's a slight bump in energy around the 23rd and 24th, but the swell is small and from the east-southeast with onshore winds. Not worth the effort.

So, to sum it up: the first real window is Saturday morning the 12th for clean, glassy fun – not big, but perfect. But the true standout is Saturday the 19th, when a powerful, long-period south swell lines up with improving winds. That's the one to circle on the calendar, even if it is a week and a half away, so treat it as promising but not locked in. Water temp is right around 64°, which is pretty normal for this time of year.

Signing off, Rusty.

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