Tabinha Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's be straight up about what's on the table for our corner of the coast.

Looking at the whole 16-day window, I gotta be honest with you – it's a tough stretch. We’ve got a solid stretch of small, weak, and mostly messy conditions, with the odd glimmer of hope but nothing that’s going to have you scrambling for your board. The water temp is sitting around 81° which is pretty much normal for this time of year.

We kick things off at Tabinha, and honestly, it’s a slow start. From Thursday the 3rd all the way through to Saturday the 12th of September, the report is consistently "poor surf conditions." The swell is hanging around 3ft to 5ft, coming from the ENE or E, but the period is a short, weak 6 seconds. That’s windswell, pure and simple. The combined energy is mostly in the 100–200 range, which is moderate at best, but with a steady 16 mph easterly breeze blowing cross or cross-onshore, the surface is just chopped up. The wave comment keeps saying "poor surf conditions" with scores of 0/10. There are a couple of sessions on the 9th and 11th of September where the wind goes cross-off and the report says "clean", but the swell is still weak and short-period. It’s the sort of setup that might look more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer given the onshore slant and the weak, choppy waves.

The first sign of something shifting is on Sunday the 13th of September. The morning has some clouds with a cross-off wind from the SE at 16 mph, and the wave state is "clean." The swell jumps a tiny bit to 5ft from the ENE, still only 7 seconds, but the combined energy is up to 204 – moderate, but at least it’s the first time the comment says anything other than "poor." It’s still only marginal, with a score of 1/10, described as "marginal surf forecast or questionable tide conditions." The afternoon turns back to poor. After that, from Monday the 14th through to the end of the period on Friday the 18th of September, it’s back to the same story: 4ft to 4ft of short-period, weak swell, and those pesky 16 mph easterly winds.

The only real standout is that Sunday morning on the 13th of September. For a fleeting moment, we get clean conditions, even if the swell is small. For the rest of it, we’re talking about a gap of nearly two weeks of mediocre to poor surf. If you’re desperate, that Sunday might offer a few weak but tidy waves if the tide plays ball, but don't expect any power. For beginners, the swell is manageable size, but the period is so short the waves will be crumbly and hard to ride. For the experts, there's nothing really worth paddling out for until the wind decides to play nice for more than a few hours.

Rusty.

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