Noosa - Sunshine Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve gotta be straight with you – the outlook for the next couple of weeks around Noosa’s Sunshine Beach is a tough one. We’ve got a long stretch of messy, onshore slop, and it’s going to take over a week before we see anything worth paddling out for. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

First up, from Monday the 7th through to the end of the second week, it’s pretty bleak. The swell stays small and weak, with the combined energy mostly sitting in the weak range (124) and dropping off into the teens and twenties. The wind is a persistent cross-onshore or onshore from the SE and ESE, and the period is short and weak – under 8 seconds for most of it. That’s just crumbly, choppy waves with no shape.

There is a small window on Tuesday morning the 15th of September where things almost come together. We get a little 2ft NE groundswell, and the wind goes glassy out of the NNE at just 3 mph. That’s clean, and the combined energy is still only moderate at 117, but it’s surfable. The period is 8 seconds, so not much grunt, and the swell direction is east-northeast – not quite the optimum east direction that suits the exposed banks. It’s going to be tiny and weak, but if you’re desperate and have a longboard, that’s the only real chance. Crowds are sometimes an issue here, but on a 2ft day, I wouldn’t stress.

Then Thursday morning the 17th of September looks almost identical – another glassy morning with 2ft NE swell and 7-second period, and combined energy of 71. Again, very ordinary, but clean.

Beyond that, it’s back to nothing. The last week barely registers any surf energy, with combined values dropping below 50 and the swell height barely cracking 1ft. There’s a funky 1.0ft 11-second period on Sunday the 20th, but it’s tiny and the wind is howling cross-shore at 19 mph – a total no-go for surfing.

So, the honest call: if you’re after a paddle, the early morning of Tuesday the 15th of September is your best bet, but it’s not a standout – just the least bad option. For most of this forecast, the beach looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing when that 10ft SE swell hits on the 10th, but it’s messy as all hell with a cross-onshore at 25 mph and combined energy of 1199. That’s strong, but ugly.

We’ve had a blank run here, and for a spot like Noosa, that can happen when the wind patterns lock in. Forecasts can change, but right now, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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