Shipwrecks Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – it's a tough stretch ahead for our local waves at Shipwrecks.

Looking at the whole 16-day window, it’s a long, bleak run. There are no standout days, no proper surfable windows worth paddling out for. The pattern is set in: the swell is small and weak, the wind is rarely your friend, and the wave energy just isn't there.

We start off on Thursday, 2 July. The water is noticeably warm, running at 82°, which is 5° warmer than the norm for this time of year – that's a seriously unusual warm spell. But that’s where the good news ends. We've got a 3 ft SSW groundswell rolling in with a long 16-second period, giving us a combined energy reading of 498 (moderate energy). But the wind is a light SSE breeze blowing directly onshore. That means messy, weak conditions. The morning is a write-off, and the afternoon doesn't get any better with a light cross-onshore wind keeping things choppy. Poor surf all day.

Friday the 3rd is much the same. Swell drops a touch to 3 ft, period shortens to 14 seconds, and while the morning is clear, the SE wind is still onshore. By the afternoon, a cross-shore wind offers a slight chance at something rideable, but the forecast is marginal at best. You’d be wasting your time.

The weekend? Forget it. Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th are a repeat performance – small swell, onshore winds all morning, and cross-onshore winds in the afternoon. The swell energy on Sunday bumps up to 658 (moderate) with a 3 ft, 17-second SSW swell, but the wind is still ruining it. Monday the 6th offers a 3 ft swell with a very long 20-second period in the afternoon – that’s proper groundswell energy hitting 791 (moderate), perfect for a point or reef. But with a gentle cross-onshore wind, it’s just gonna be lumpy and frustrating. No thanks.

Tuesday the 7th is the biggest we see. A 4 ft SSW swell with an 18-second period pushes the combined energy up to 976 (moderate). But that’s followed by a moderate SSW breeze in the morning and a moderate cross-shore wind in the afternoon that kicks up a cross-chop. It’s a marginal call at best. The same pattern holds for Wednesday the 8th.

From there it just fades. Thursday the 9th through to Thursday the 16th of July is a slow death. Swell sizes drop below 3 ft, periods get shorter, energy levels fall off a cliff. On Wednesday the 15th and Thursday the 16th, the combined energy plummets to 150 and 146, which is weak. The wind might go cross-offshore a couple of times, like on Friday the 10th afternoon or Saturday the 11th afternoon, but with a 3 ft to 3 ft swell, it's just not enough to make it worth suiting up. You’ll be floating around waiting for dribblers.

Honestly, there isn't a single session worth recommending. The swell direction from the SSW is the optimum direction for this break, so it's got that going for it, but everything else is fighting against it. This is a classic case of a blank run that’s normal for the area when the wind refuses to cooperate with the small swell. It’s a better set-up for a kiteboarder than a paddle surfer right now. Keep the boards in the bag and wait for a change in the forecast.

Rusty.

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