Stent Road Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here with a look at what’s coming up for Stent Road. Honestly, this is one of those outlooks where you’ll need to pick your window carefully, because for the next couple of weeks there’s a lot of onshore wind and messy conditions to sit through before things clean up at the very end.

Right out of the gate, the swell is pumping but the wind is cruel. Sunday the 13th has a solid WSW groundswell pushing 15 ft with a very long 16-second period – that’s serious energy (12305) – but it’s blowing a fresh cross-onshore at 30 km/h, making it lumpy and poor. Not one to paddle out in. That pattern holds through Monday and Tuesday: still decent size, but wind stays cross-onshore, choppy, and the surf quality is rated poor. The odd glimmer shows up late Tuesday with a drop to 5 ft, but wind turns light onshore and the tide feels questionable, so nothing to get excited about.

Wednesday the 16th through Sunday the 19th sees the swell dropping back to around 4 ft to 8 ft, but again it’s mostly cross-onshore and pretty average. There is a brief window on Thursday the 17th where a 30 km/h NNE cross-offshore wind cleans up a 7 ft WSW swell – that’s the first real clean look (combined energy at 1399). But the wind is fresh, and it’s only a marginal forecast. Friday the 18th has a 8 ft WSW groundswell (period 16 seconds) with a light cross-onshore breeze in the morning, making for small wind ripples but still not perfect.

The next week brings more size, but more wind too. Sunday the 20th has 10 ft to 12 ft WSW swell (period 15 seconds, combined energy 4346 and 5540) but cross-onshore and cross-shore winds keep it choppy. A bit of hope on Monday the 21st when a light 10 km/h cross-onshore breeze works with a 10 ft WSW swell – that’s marginal but has some clean potential in the morning. Then Tuesday the 22nd is a total washout: a gale-force SSE wind at 65 km/h cross-offshore will keep things blown out and dangerous, even with 8 ft to 10 ft swell.

Now, the standout – and I mean the only true standout – is way out at the end of the forecast. On Sunday the 27th of September, the morning shows excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers. We’ve got a 6 ft WSW groundswell (period 14 seconds, combined energy 1272) with a gentle 15 km/h SE cross-offshore wind that’s making it clean. The break is Stent Road, a reef and point setup that’s exposed to the SW, and with a 16-second period groundswell like that, it’s going to wrap nicely. Water temp is 14°, just a touch above normal. Crowds can be often here, so expect company. This is the one to aim for if you want a good session.

Before that, the morning of Monday the 28th has a 12 ft NW swell (short 8-second period, combined energy 2423) with a light NNE cross-offshore wind – clean but short-period swell is snappy and works best at this reef. Also in the afternoon, 12 ft WNW swell with a 10-second period and moderate cross-shore wind, but it’s a bit messy.

Bottom line: the next two weeks are mostly a battle with onshore winds. The only day that really shines is the morning of Sunday the 27th. Keep your eyes on it.

Rusty.

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