Shooting Gallery Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, let’s have a look at this one. We’re talking Shooting Gallery for the next couple of weeks, and I’ll be honest with you – it’s a tough stretch.

Alright, so the forecast is basically a long quiet patch. From Friday afternoon, 24 July, right through to Wednesday afternoon, 5 August, it’s all showing as poor surf conditions. The wind is a relentless issue here – it’s blowing cross-onshore from the north-northeast at a solid clip of 15 to 22 mph for most of the first week. That’s a fresh breeze that’s just making everything lumpy and choppy. The wave energy around 24 July is moderate, at 359 (combined energy), with a short-period wind swell of just under 6 feet from the north but only 7 seconds, so the shape will be weak and messy. Even with a bit of swell peaking on the 26th at 6 feet and 447 energy, the wind kills it. Not a look for a paddle surf, to be honest – more of a kite session if you’re into that.

After that, the swell fades right out. From 31 July morning, the wave height drops to around 3 feet, and by 1 August, it’s still around 3 to 3 feet, with the swell shifting to the west-northwest with a bit longer period (9 seconds). The wind does ease up a little on 3 August, with a gentle breeze of 9 mph from the north-northwest, but the swell is tiny and still cross-onshore. Energy levels are weak, dipping into the 170s and lower. No real standout period in the whole 16 days – just a lot of days with poor surf.

The only flicker of something is around 4 and 5 August, where the swell bumps back up to about 5 feet from the north with moderate energy around 339 to 345, but the wind is still cross-onshore at 12-15 mph, so you’re still fighting chop. Periods are 8 to 9 seconds – nothing special. The optimum swell for Shooting Gallery is from the NNW, but we’re mostly getting north or north-northeast, so it’s off-angle.

Water temperature at the start is 72°, about 1° warmer than usual – pretty average for the time of year, nothing weird there. Crowds are sometimes a factor here, but honestly, with this run of conditions, it’ll be quiet. The break itself is a reef, fairly exposed, and consistent, but this forecast just doesn’t give it a chance. No standout days – it’s one of those stretches where you gotta wait for a change in the pattern. Things can turn around, but right now, it’s a big gap from 24 July out to 8 August with nothing to recommend.

Rusty

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