Shark Island (Cronulla) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you—this stretch ain't gonna have you paddling out with a grin every day. The opening days have a bit of size, but it's rough and messy, so keep your expectations in check. We’ve got a solid window of surfable, sometimes good waves early on, but then the ocean basically goes to sleep for a long stretch. There’s one little pulse later on that might get the heart rate up, but it’s a long way off and nothing to bank on just yet.

Let’s start with Thursday morning the 27th. There’s some real energy in the water with a strong swell running at 7ft out of the south, period of 9 seconds. The combined energy is reading 1370, which is strong. The problem? It’s pretty junky—cross-off wind and the comment says “marginal” at best. It’s a clean-ish wave, but the quality is not there. By the afternoon, it drops to 5ft and the wind swings cross-shore, making it pretty average. Not worth getting too excited about.

Friday the 28th is where things start to look up. Morning brings a clean 5ft SSE swell with an 11-second period and a light offshore wind. The energy is moderate at 700, and the comment says “expect very good surf conditions.” This is the pick of the early run. Head to Shark Island (Cronulla) – it’s a reef break, fairly consistent, and this is its moment. The afternoon though, the wind picks up from the SSE at 15 mph and it gets messy again.

Saturday the 29th has a smaller but fun morning: 4ft of SE swell, 10-second period, glassy offshore wind, and clean conditions. The energy is moderate (439), and while it’s not big, it could be a fun little session for those who know the reef. The afternoon gets cross-shore and less appealing.

Sunday the 30th drops off further. Morning has 3ft of south swell, and it’s clean but the comment says “surfable but very ordinary.” The afternoon turns poor. From here, we hit a real flat spell.

Monday the 31st through to the 5th of September is a write-off. Swell heights hover around 1.0ft to 3ft, the energy drops into the weak zone (anything from 38 to 311), and the comments are all “poor surf conditions.” It’s a long, frustrating stretch of nothing. There’s a brief blip on Saturday afternoon the 5th when a 5ft NE windswell pops up, but it’s only 5 seconds of period and the wind is howling cross-shore, so it’s not for paddling—honestly, that looks more like a kite day.

Then the ocean teases us. On Monday the 7th of September, a 5ft south swell shows up with a 10-second period, but the wind is junk and the comment is “poor.” The energy is strong at 531, but it’s wasted on a messy surface. After that, it dies again right through the middle of the month—tiny 1.0ft to 3ft waves, weak energy, and nothing but “poor” across the board.

One last thing to keep an eye on: the water temp is sitting at 63°, which is about average for this time of year, so nothing crazy there.

So, bottom line—if you want a wave this week, Friday morning the 28th is your best bet. It’s not huge, but it’s clean, and the reef will hold it together. After that, we’re in for a long flat spell, with a possible pulse on the 7th that gets ruined by wind. And for the true diehards, there’s a whisper of a very long-period SSE swell on the 11th, but that’s 21 seconds and 1.0ft—not something to get excited about just yet. Keep the board waxed, but don’t hold your breath.

Rusty.

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