Slade Bay/Boot Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cookin' for Slade Bay/Boot Reef. Gotta be honest with ya, the next couple of weeks look like a bit of a grind, with some light at the end of the tunnel.

We're starting off with a long stretch of pretty ordinary conditions. From Wednesday the 2nd right through, it's a battle. Wednesday morning you're lookin' at a 4ft SW swell, but with a stiff 19 mph S wind blowing on it, it's just messy. The combined energy is weak at best (107), and with that short period of 6 seconds, there's no shape to it. It doesn't get much better for days. Thursday and Friday see some bigger swell push through – up to 7ft on Thursday afternoon – but the wind stays cross or cross-on, keeping things choppy and lumpy. The energy picks up into the mid-range (363-406), but the wind ruins the party.

Finally, by Saturday the 5th, things start to look a bit cleaner. Saturday morning has a light 3 mph cross-off breeze with a 3ft W swell. It's small and weak (107), but for the first time in a while, it's clean. That's your first real window for a sneaky paddle.

Then we hit another flat spell. Sunday and Monday are tiny, with swell dropping to 2ft and the wind all over the shop. Hold tight.

Now, here's where it gets interesting, but it's a ways off. On Monday the 7th, we get a long-period groundswell rolling in. The morning shows a 4ft WSW swell with a period of 13 seconds. That's proper energy (470) and it's clean with a cross-off breeze. The catch? That long period can make a reef break like this one a bit tricky – it'll be powerful but the sets will be spread out. Still, that's your first genuine standout window, but keep your expectations measured.

Later in the week, things get a bit wild. The afternoon of the 7th sees the swell jump to 6ft with a 12-second period and the energy cranking up to 890. That's a lot of juice. But the wind is a fresh cross-shore, so it'll be lumpy. Not ideal.

The real prize, if you can be patient, lands on Saturday the 12th? No, wait. Look at Sunday the 13th. Glassy conditions. A 3 mph offshore breeze from the ENE, with a 4ft WSW swell. The combined energy is low (141), and the period is short (7 seconds), so it's not bottoming out the Bells. But glassy and clean at a reef? That's a gift. That's the best small-wave window in the whole run.

But the real hero of this forecast, the one that gets the blood pumping, is Thursday the 17th. The morning shows a 5ft WSW swell with a 10-second period, a light cross-off breeze from the NE at 6 mph, and the combined energy is a meaty 813. That is strong, clean, and has some push. For an intermediate surfer, that's right in the zone. It's not a total bomb, but it's the best quality on offer over the entire 16 days. The rest of the time is patience and picking the clean windows.

Rusty.

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