Stockton Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Alright, let’s look at the next couple of weeks for Stockton Beach. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, with a slow start, then a pumping window that’s really only for the experienced crew, before it drops off again.

The real story here is the heavy swell that’s coming in from the SSE around the 10th and 11th of September. We’re talking about some serious, grunty groundswell with combined energy readings in the thousands (up to 2269 on the Friday morning). That’s a lot of water moving around. The swell is coming from the SSE, which is a good direction for this spot, and it’s hitting really solid sizes – 10ft on Thursday, 8ft on Friday. But here’s the catch: that’s too big for most. Beginners, stay out of the water. This is expert-only territory. The wind is cross-offshore for those mornings, keeping the faces clean, so if you’ve got the skills, that Thursday morning (10th September) and Friday morning (11th September) are your standouts. The period is 10 to 11 seconds, so solid, powerful lines, but at a beach break, that long period can make the waves jack up fast and shut down. It’s a raw, powerful ocean.

Before that, Tuesday morning (8th September) is also big at 8ft, but the wind is a cross-shore from the south at 16 mph, putting a cross-chop on the surface. Not ideal, and again, it’s too big for the average punter. The energy is still strong (1133).

Now, the real hidden gem. Wait for Saturday morning, the 12th of September. The swell drops to a much more manageable 5ft from the SSE, with a solid 10-second period. The wind goes glassy – a light SSW breeze at 3 mph. The water temp is about average for this time of year. That combination of clean, glassy conditions and a decent-sized, long-period swell is a recipe for some of the best waves you’ll see all week. This is the pick of the entire forecast. The energy is still moderate (522), so there’s plenty of push. Crowds are possible here, so get in early.

After that, the swell fades quickly. Sunday the 13th is small (3ft), and by Monday the 14th, it’s dropping to 3ft with a very long period of 12 seconds from the S. That’s a classic groundswell, but it’s tiny. It’ll be clean, but you’ll be scratching for a wave. The rest of the second week is a bit of a write-off, with small, weak swell and onshore or cross-shore winds. There’s a small bump on the 17th and 18th of September, with 4ft to 4ft from the S, clean in the mornings, but the energy is low (around 400). It’s surfable, but nothing to get excited about. The 20th of September shows a slight increase to 6ft, but the wind is a fresh 16 to 22 mph, making it messy and marginal.

For the beach breaks here, when the swell is big and the wind is off, it can get interesting for kite surfers, but for paddle surfing, the only real standout is that Saturday morning (12th September) for the clean, glassy conditions and the deep-water swell. The first week has the size, but it’s a big, heavy beast.

Rusty.

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