Shooting Gallery Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it for this neck of the woods.

To be honest, the outlook for the next couple of weeks is a tough one to sell. We’ve got a long stretch of pretty ordinary conditions ahead. There’s a real gap here with no real recommendations kicking off until maybe some glimmers in the second week, so don’t get your hopes up for this weekend or the first few days after. The pattern is persistent cross-onshore winds and messy wave shapes, so it’s going to be a test of patience.

Let’s start with the only spot on the menu: Shooting Gallery. It’s a consistent intermediate reef break, pretty exposed to the swell, and it ideally likes a swell from the NNW. The water temp is sitting about average for this time of year, so nothing weird to worry about there.

For the first week, from Friday the 4th right through to around Wednesday the 9th of September, it’s all poor surf. Swell heights are hanging around 2 ft to 4 ft from the north, but the wind is a messy cross-onshore from the N and NNE. The wave energy is weak to moderate at best, with values in the low to mid hundreds (72 to 387), but it’s all wrapped in a “poor surf conditions” label. Choppy and lumpy texture makes it hard work.

Monday the 7th does bring a period bump to 12 seconds from the NNW, which gives the swell some better shape in theory, and the energy kicks up to 387 (moderate wave energy). It’s a groundswell, which is good for a reef like Shooting Gallery, but that cross-onshore breeze is still a buzzkill. It won’t be clean.

The first real standout, and pretty much the only window that looks worth the effort, lands on Monday the 14th of September. The morning shows a slight improvement. Swell is 3 ft from the north at 8 seconds, combined energy is 271 (moderate wave energy). The wind turns light cross-onshore from the NNE at just 6 mph. That’s a gentle breeze with just small wind ripples. It’s still “marginal,” but that’s the cleanest the lineup will look in this entire run. Keep in mind Shooting Gallery can have crowds sometimes, so with the limited quality, it might get a few locals out.

After that, we slide back into poor conditions right through to the end of the run on the 19th of September. The swell sticks around in the 3 ft to 4 ft range from the north, but the wind keeps blowing cross-onshore, and the period mostly sits in the 6-8 second range. The energy stays in the 100 to 300 range. Nothing here is going to get the heart racing.

So there you have it. It’s a bleak few weeks, but that Monday the 14th morning is your best shot for a surf. Don’t expect much else.

Rusty.

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