Shelley Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day surfers, Rusty here. We’ve got a bit of a lean run ahead at Shelley Beach. The next week-and-a-half is mostly small, messy, or just plain ordinary, so you’ll need to be patient. The good news is there’s a couple of genuine highlights popping up right at the end of the window, but they’re a long way off.

We start off this Friday the 21st with only 2ft of weak, short-period ENE swell and a 20 km/h NW wind. It’s poor, not worth a paddle. Saturday the 22nd drops even smaller—1ft—with only light winds, but no real energy. Sunday the 23rd sees a bump to 4ft from the south with a 10-second period, but the wind is cross-shore and conditions are only marginal. The combined energy is moderate though, sitting at 353. Still, it’s not clean enough.

Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th stay small and average, with a little more swell early Tuesday—4ft from the NE—but wind stays cross-off, keeping things clean but weak. Honestly, nothing to get excited about. Wednesday the 26th is a write-off, and Thursday the 27th offers a tiny glimmer: a glassy morning with 3ft of ENE swell and 8-second period. The wind is glass, dead calm, so it’s clean, but the wave quality is only ‘surfable’ at best. Still, if you’re desperate, that might be your only window.

Friday the 28th through to Sunday the 30th is a mix of small, choppy, and onshore—pretty much a flat spell. The combined energy drops as low as 75 on the 30th. Then things finally get interesting.

Monday the 31st of August is the first real standout. The morning glass-off is clean with a cross-off NNE breeze at only 5 km/h. Swell comes from the south at 2ft, but the period is a very long 17 seconds—proper groundswell. The combined energy jumps to 470, which is moderate-to-strong. That long period means the waves will have real push and shape for a small swell, but at a beach break it might wrap a little straight. Still, that’s a solid morning and one of the best on offer.

Tuesday the 1st of September follows up with another clean morning. WSW breeze at 5 km/h, glassy conditions. Swell is 3ft from the south with an 11-second period and combined energy of 209. Not huge, but clean and consistent enough for a fun session. The afternoons both days get ruined by onshore wind, so mornings are key.

After that, Wednesday the 2nd and Thursday the 3rd are back to small and ordinary, with a glassy Thursday morning but only 2ft of E swell. Friday the 4th has a long-period SSE swell (18 seconds) but only 1ft—just not enough to work with. Saturday the 5th ends the run with 3ft from the south, clean but weak.

Water temp is about 64°F, which is 1°F cooler than normal—nothing unusual for the time of year.

So to wrap it up: the real standout is Monday the 31st of August morning—clean, good energy, long-period south swell. Tuesday the 1st of September morning is also solid. The rest of the window is either too small or too messy to bother with. If you’re keen, keep an eye on that Monday.

Stay salty,
Rusty

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