Shelley Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

First off, we’re looking at a pretty tough run for a while. There’s a handful of tiny windows for something surfable, but honestly, for the first week and a half you’ll be working hard for scraps. The best of the whole 16-day window is clustered around the 24th and 25th, so don’t give up hope.

Shelley Beach is our only spot on the cards. The water temp is sitting at 64°, which is about 1° cooler than usual for this time of year – pretty much average, nothing wild.

We kick off on Tuesday the 11th of August. The morning is clean but tiny, with a weak 2ft SSW swell (107 energy). Not worth suiting up. The afternoon though, suddenly there’s a pulse: 5ft of S swell at 11 seconds, energy jumping to 564. That’s a solid combo of size and period, and with cross-off wind it’s going to be clean. This is your first real window. It’s the start of the action.

Wednesday the 12th starts alright with a 4ft S swell, but the real gem is the afternoon: a 3ft S swell, but with offshore wind from the WNW. That glassy, clean face will make the small waves ride a lot better than you’d think. A fun little session.

Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th are messy. Onshore winds and poor conditions. Skip it.

Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th start to get some size (5ft to 6ft) but it’s short period SSE slop, and the wind is onshore or cross-onshore. The whole week after that, from the 17th to the 23rd, is a long run of mostly poor surf with onshore winds. There’s a tiny window on Saturday the 22nd morning with a clean 3ft ESE swell and cross-off breeze, but it’s marginal. Sunday the 23rd morning is glassy, but again only 3ft of weak E swell. Ordinary.

Now, here’s the standout. Monday the 24th of August morning – mark it. A clean 3ft S swell with a 9-second period, light cross-off breeze from the NNE, and the energy is 276. It’s not huge, but it’s clean, and the S direction is what this break wants. The best of the run-up.

Then Tuesday the 25th of August morning – this is the best on offer. 4ft of NE swell, but it’s short period at 6 seconds, so don’t expect bombs. The energy is 364 (moderate), and more importantly, it’s clean with a cross-off NNE breeze. It’s not a groundswell, but for Shelley Beach, clean and surfable is a win.

After that, the 26th Wednesday morning goes glassy again but drops to 3ft. Clean, but small.

So, the pick: Tuesday the 11th afternoon for that first solid S swell, and then Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th mornings for the cleanest, most consistent windows. The 25th morning is the best of the lot.

Rusty, signing off.

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