Shida Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s talk about the surf ahead for Shida. It’s a bit of a slow start, but there’s a window of proper, clean swell you’re gonna want to clear your calendar for.

First up, the water is sitting at 71°, which is a whopping 5° colder than usual for this time of year. That’s a serious anomaly, so don’t be fooled by the summer dates – you’ll be reaching for a thicker suit or a hood.

Monday the 6th is a write-off. We’ve got a weak, short-period 4ft SE swell (328 combined energy) with a cross-off wind. It’s inconsistent, and combined with the questionable tide, it’s just not worth paddling out.

Things start to look interesting from Wednesday morning the 8th. The swell builds to 8ft from the SSE (16 sec period, 2881 energy) with light winds and a cross-off angle. By Wednesday afternoon, it’s a solid 8ft SSE (2994 energy) and the wind goes clean cross-off. This is where it gets good, but at 8ft, it’s pushing into expert territory.

The real standout is Friday the 10th through Sunday the 12th. Friday morning kicks off with a 8ft S swell (3002 energy) and perfect offshore winds from the SSE. The period is a solid 16 seconds, giving you proper groundswell lines. The water is clean, the waves are powerful, and the wind is glassy. This is the best on offer. Even as the swell drops to 7ft–8ft over Saturday and Sunday, the offshore winds hold, and the quality remains excellent. Saturday morning the 11th sees a 8ft S swell (3129 energy) with a 17-second period – that’s very long-interval groundswell, which will be a touch straight at the beach, but the offshore wind will keep it tidy.

After Sunday, the swell slowly drops. Monday the 13th and Tuesday the 14th are still clean with offshore winds, but the swell drops to 3ft–4ft. The energy dips to around 276–342, so it’s mellow but still ridable on a log.

Now, here’s a big caveat for the later stuff. We’ve got a massive pulse coming around Saturday the 18th. Saturday morning, the swell hits 8ft from the ESE (1312 energy) with clean cross-off winds – that’s a solid, expert-level day. But Saturday afternoon, the swell jumps to 12ft (4516 energy), and then Sunday the 19th morning sees a 13ft ESE swell (6281 energy). That’s way too big for Shida, and the wind swings cross-on, making it a messy, dangerous mess. This setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The run from Sunday the 19th through Tuesday the 21st is all poor surf conditions with onshore winds and inconsistent lumps.

So, the takeaway: the first week has a solid window of clean, offshore groundswell, with the absolute best being Friday the 10th through Sunday the 12th. The second week offers a promising but less certain morning on the 18th before it gets blown out and oversized. Don’t sleep on this week’s swell.

Rusty.

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