Tamarack Ave. Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, this is Rusty. Look, I’ve got to be straight with you—this 16-day stretch is a tough one for Tamarack Ave. (beach and jetty). The swell is tiny, the wind is all wrong, and we’re looking at several days in a row where you’d be better off doing something else. I’ll walk you through it, but fair warning: there are no standout, go-out-of-your-way sessions here. The wave energy is weak for most of it, though it does bump up to a moderate range at times, but that’s not enough to fix the problems.

We start off with nothing worth paddling out for from Tuesday the 15th through until around Friday the 18th. The swell is small—1 ft to 3 ft—and every session is blown out with onshore or cross-onshore winds from the SW and WSW at 6 to 9 mph. That’s a solid stretch of poor surf, so don’t bother until later.

Friday morning the 18th, we finally get a glimmer, but it’s still marginal. Swell bumps to just 2 ft from the SW, but the period’s a very long 19 seconds—that’s clean groundswell energy, but with that tiny height it’s going to be fat and slow. The cross-onshore wind is light at 6 mph, so there’s a chance you find a clean one if you’re desperate. Still, not a highlight.

Saturday the 19th morning sees similar conditions: 3 ft SW swell, 18 seconds, light onshore wind at 6 mph. This is as good as it gets, but it’s not good. It’s a beach and jetty setup, and with that long period, it might break a bit straight and fat on the sandbanks. The crowd profile says “often,” so you won’t be alone if you go, but for this size, it’s probably just a few locals fiddling around.

From Sunday the 20th through the rest of the week and into the following week, it’s a real grind. The swell stays between 2 ft and 3 ft, mostly from the SW, with periods dropping from 18 seconds down to 12 seconds by the end. Winds are cross-onshore or onshore almost every session, from WSW or W, at 6 to 9 mph. The wave energy fluctuates between low and moderate, but the wind and chop kill it. There’s no single standout day—just a long, flat, choppy run.

The best you could hope for is maybe Friday morning the 27th through to Sunday the 29th, where the swell drops to 2 ft and the period is a short 12 to 17 seconds, with light cross-onshore winds. Still marginal at best. By Tuesday the 29th afternoon, the swell tanks to 2 ft, and it’s just over.

Honestly, nothing here is worth planning around. The water temp anomaly isn’t given, so I can’t tell you if it’s warm or cold for the season. If you’re a beginner, the biggest swell is only 3 ft and that’s late in the run, so it’s never too big for you, but the wind’s a problem. For experts, there’s one tiny window of long-period groundswell early on, but it’s too small to be exciting and the wind’s messy. Kite surfers might get something out of the stronger cross-onshore chop on a few afternoons, but for paddle surfing, it’s a no-go.

Rusty, signing off.

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